Just Friends
by aglock729
Summary: Detectives Hailey Upton and Jay Halstead's working relationship has turned into a great friendship, but what happens when the lines between being just friends and being something more get blurred? Upstead fan-fic.
1. Chapter 1

A pillow smacked Detective Jay Halstead in the face.

"Dude, if we're late, you're buying beers at Molly's."

Jay peeked open an eye. His partner in the Chicago Police Department Intelligence Unit, Detective Hailey Upton, stood next to his bedside. "Shit, Hailey. How did you even get in here?"

She scoffed. "I know you keep a spare key in the toolbox of your truck, besides, there are other ways I could get in." She teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

Jay mumbled something incoheren into his pillow as Hailey opened up his closet, pulling out a pair of pants and a shirt.

"Up up up an at 'em, kiddo!" She insisted, pulling off his covers.

"Aw, c'mon!" He shouted, sitting up.

"Put on some clothes, Halstead, cover up that scrawny ass," she joked, taking in Jay sitting there in just his boxers. Truth was, he was far from scrawny. Being on the Intelligence team meant frequent undercover work and weird hours, it didn't leave much time for a social life, so what free time Jay did have was spent at the gym. He had a broad, built chest and six pack abs. His arms were strong and muscular. None of this went unnoticed by Hailey when she saw him shirtless, but she didn't stare too long.

"What, you don't enjoy the view?" He said, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

"Im going to enjoy the view of Voight screaming at you if we're late."

"Copy that," said Jay, getting up off the bed and putting his clothes on.

He and Hailey had been partners for a while, and so far things were going great. He trusted her like no one else, which was one of the most important things about their relationship. He knew she'd have his back no matter what.

They went downstairs, getting in Jay's Ram pickup truck. They often rode together in the mornings, either he'd pick up Hailey or she'd drive to his house and ride with him. The latter was often a result of him not waking up on time. Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares of his army days, and had to take sleeping pills to get back to sleep.

Driving into District 21, Hailey kept making fun of Jay, and he gave it right back. Laughing they climbed the stairs to the Intelligence Unit, where the rest of the team had already begun the day.

"Halstead. Upton. Barely made it." Said their Sargeant, Hank Voight.

"Sarge, it's not my fault this guy is not a morning person," Hailey said, putting her hands up defensively.

"Alright well we already have a case, so everybody get in gear," Voight said curtly. He was all business when there were criminals to catch.

Putting two pictures up on the board, he began, "Double homicide on the lower East side, looks like it could be related to the fake heroin bust we had last week, so they want us to run point. The victims," Voight turned pointing at each picture, "Gavin Hawkins who was selling the bad dope, and his brother Greg, who was one of Antonio's CIs before he went dark." Turning to the team, he started delegating responsibilities. "Rojas and Burgess, I want you to talk to Antonio's other CIs who were affiliated with Greg, see if they have any clues. Attwater and Ruzek, go talk to the family. Halstead and Upton, start looking into financials. Let's tie this up."

The team split, all focused on their tasks. After a while of looking at her computer, Hailey jumped up. "I got a transfer two days ago for $5000." After some more digging, they tracked it down to a specific bank and time.

"Good work," said Voight. "Go check with that bank and see if they've got surveillance."

45 minutes later, not only did they have evidence of the guy making the transfer, they had a name. "Sarge, a Dante Morales made the transfer. He's in the system for possession." Hailey informed Voight over the phone.

"Go pick him up," Voight ordered.

Jay and Hailey were sitting outside the guy's last known address, waiting to see if he showed up.

"Alright. Would you rather... Have arms for legs or legs for arms?" Hailey asked, trying to pass the time.

"What?!" Jay laughed. "How did you even come up with that?"

"The mental picture is what really makes it exciting," she laughed.

"Alright. I'm gonna go with arms for legs. I wouldn't want to be all toes," he shivered. "I hate feet."

"Good to know," she laughed.

"Okay, my turn. Would you rather kiss Voight or Platt?"

"Oh come on!" Hailey giggled. "That's too easy. Platt all the way."

"Okay, how about Adam or Kevin?" Jay countered.

"Well, considering I have kissed Adam already, I'm gonna go with him." Hailey responded. Her and Officer Adam Ruzek had had a thing a few months ago, but it had just been for fun, nothing serious.

"Okay, Kev or me?" Jay asked cheekily.

"Well..." Hailey thought for a second.

"Shit, there's our guy," Jay said. "Saved by the bell."

They jumped out of the truck, walking quickly down the sidewalk.

"Dante Morales?"

The man turned, and when he saw them started running. Jay and Hailey pursued, quickly catching up, Jay tackled the man and Hailey cuffed him.

"Seriously, man, you know running just makes you look guilty." Jay told him, and they took him back to the station.

At the end of the day, Hailey was getting ready to leave. They had spent most of the afternoon questioning Morales, and he'd given them a pretty solid lead on the man who had paid him to make the transfer.

"Hey, you still want to come with me to my boxing class?" Jay asked Hailey.

"Oh yeah, I need to take out my aggression on your face," she laughed.

When they pulled up to Jay's gym, Hailey made her way to the women's locker room, which was empty, changing into a sports bra and spandex pants. She braided her blonde hair neatly down her back. Walking out to meet Jay, she saw him waiting on the other side of the room wearing a t-shirt and athletic shorts, talking to some other guys.

Walking up behind them, Hailey slapped Jay's arm. "Alright Halstead, ready to get your ass whooped?" She asked playfully.

All of the men turned to look at her. She felt their eyes scan down her body. She smiled awkwardly.

Damn. When Jay turned and saw Hailey, that's the first thought he had. Her tight work out clothes didn't leave too much to the imagination. There weren't many women who came to this gym, especially pretty, petite blondes with curves in all the right places. Jay took notice of the other guys reactions too, and suddenly felt a bit possessive.

"Hey, if you need a sparing partner, I'll volunteer." A guy named Todd said to Hailey.

"Um, i think I'm good with kicking Jay's butt, thanks." She responded politely.

The guy named Todd stepped closer. "I think i could teach you a thing or two, honey," he winked at Hailey.

Seriously? Thought Jay. "She said she's good, man." Jay said angrily.

"No, Jay. He's right. I really need some help." Hailey said sarcastically.

Hailey climbed in the ring. After a bit of sparring, Hailey took out Todd's legs and pinned him strongly to the ground. "I taught 4 years of self defense classes to teach women how to protect themselves from predators," she spat at Todd.

He stalked away, his pride bruised.

Jay walked up. "Now that, was awesome." He smiled at Hailey. "That guy is a tool."

After some work outs, just the two of them, they got ready to pack up their stuff. Even though no one else had bothered her, Jay noticed eyes on Hailey the whole time, and he couldn't figure out why it bothered him so much.

When Hailey came out from the showers, Jay asked, "Molly's?"

"Oh yeah." She said.

When they got to the bar, there was already a crowd of first responders and friends gathered there.

"Hey! Halstead and Upton are here!" Officer Kim Burgess walked up, putting her arms around them. "Come sit with us!" They moved to a table where Ruzek and Officer Kevin Attwater were sitting.

"I just got my ass kicked by a girl," Jay told the group.

They spent the next several minutes praising Hailey and poking fun at Jay.

"I love me a strong woman," Adam told Hailey suggestively.

Oh brother. Could this guy be any more obvious? Jay thought.

Adam flirted with Hailey all night. Jay had thought their thing was over. Guess not. Hailey seemed to be enjoying herself.

Jay went to the bar for another drink. "Can I get another?"

"Damn, Detective. Hard day?"

Jay turned to see Paramedic Emily Foster. They'd run into each other on scenes before but they weren't really friends.

"Nah, just a long one." He responded, watching Hailey and Adam.

Following his gaze, Emily smiled knowingly. "You've got a thing for your partner?"

"What?! No." Jay told her.

"Mhmm." She laughed. "Dude, it's all over your face."

"I do not have a thing for her, I just don't like Adam using her when it suits him." He huffed.

"Okay, prove it." Foster said, downing her drink. Jay followed her lead, and ordered another drink.

The next morning, Hailey knocked on Jay's door. Seriously? Two days in a row he hadn't woken up on time? That was uncommon. Her knock didn't get a response, so she used the key she still had from the day before to enter his apartment.

"Halstead? What's the deal, man?" She said, walking down the hallway. "You're really off your game if-"

When she opened the door to his bedroom she froze. He wasn't alone.

"Shit."


	2. Chapter 2

"Shit."

Jay sat up quickly when he heard Hailey's voice. "Did I sleep in again?" Someone stirred next to him. Looking over he saw... Foster? Shit was right.

"Well this is awkward." Emily said with a laugh, slipping her clothes on under the covers. "I'd better go," she said, quickly gathering her things. "See ya, Jay. That was fun." She said, winking at Hailey as she left.

Hailey just stood there, open mouthed. Finally, she looked at Jay. "Um, I didn't know you guys were a thing."

Well this was beyond embarrassing, he thought. "We're not." He said. "I mean, we were but we're not like... It was just a one time thing..." He was trying to stammer out an explanation.

This was so not like Jay, Hailey thought. He usually had his act together. She couldn't remember him ever talking about sleeping around before but maybe that just wasn't something they talked about? She had seen him the night before drinking at the bar, then when she couldn't find him later she just asked Kim for a ride home. Well, now we know where he went, Hailey thought.

"Um, Hailey? Can you turn around?" Jay asked, embarrassed. "I don't have clothes on."

"Sure thing." Hailey spun around, and Jay got out from under the covers.

Jay cleared his throat. "I'm good." Turning, she saw he was buttoning his shirt, and she saw a flash of those abs.

"How was your night?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh pretty uneventful. I got a ride home with Kim when you disappeared."

So she hadn't gone home with Adam? That was good, he thought. Why did he even care?

"You're night looked pretty eventful." She raised her eyebrows. "Foster? Really?" She didn't know why she was so I interested.

"Yeah. Think I had too many drinks." He said awkwardly. "I've got a splitting headache."

"Well, we better go so we can pick up a coffee cure," she told him.

Their drive to work was silent this morning. Jay was cursing himself. A one night stand was totally out of his character. But seeing Hailey with Adam had triggered something in him, and he wasn't quite sure what it was.

Arriving at the district, Voight was ready for them to get the day started. "Alright team, after some convincing, Morales is gonna set up a meet with the guy who paid him off, said his name is Arturo. That's all he knows. He's got a burner phone number, were gonna see if the guy bites."

The team worked on paperwork until Voight informed them ,"we've got a meet, suit up."

Hailey stood outside the warehouse, ready to catch any runners coming out the back door. Sure enough, after she heard Voight identify himself as Chicago P.D. inside the warehouse, a young man ran out the back. Hailey pursued, gun in hand. As she followed the man around a corner, he pulled out a pistol, firing two shots at her. "Shots fired, suspect is armed, I'm in pursuit down the east alley," she said into her radio.

Slowly creeping down the alley, Hailey's senses were on edge. Suddenly, the man jumped out from behind her, taking her down to the ground. Knocking her gun out of her hand, the assailant pointed his gun at her head, "Not so tough now, bitch," he spat at her.

Hailey heard a shot and he fell over. Hailey pushed him off of her and looked back the alley to see Jay, gun raised. "You good?" He asked.

"Yeah," she replied breathlessly. "I'm good."

Jay held out his hand and helped her stand up. "Little to close, Hail. You should've waited for me."

"You know me, take charge kinda girl." She smiled.

Returning to the office, they had a bunch of paperwork to fill out since there had been an officer involved shooting. The man who attacked Hailey was one of Arturo's croonies, their actual suspect was currently in interrogation with Voight ripping him apart.

"Alright." Jay said, putting down his pen. "Wanna go to Molly's?"

"Nah. I'd rather go home." She told him. Almost dying had a way of making you exhausted. "I can get a ride though, I'm sure Emily would like to see you at Molly's." She said quietly.

"No, I think I'd rather avoid Molly's for that reason," he said honestly. "Drinks at your place?"

"Sure," she said, and they headed home.

After picking up her car at Jay's, he followed her back to her place. Unlocking her door, she went to the cabinet. Jay took his usual seat at the kitchen island while she poured whiskey.

"Man," Jay said, "What's the tally for how many times I've saved your butt?" He asked. "Don't I get a reward by now?"

She laughed, "Being my partner should be reward enough."

"Touché," he grinned, raising his glass.

They sat on the couch, turning on the Bears game, talking about odds and ends.

"Okay, so Adam was telling me this joke today-" Hailey started to say, but Jay interrupted her.

"So what's the deal with you guys... Are you still a thing?" He asked nonchalantly.

Why did he care? "Nah. It was fun while it lasted but workplace relationships get a little messy, ya know?"

"It didn't look over last night."

"I didn't realize you cared so much."

"Well like you said," Jay pointed out, "workplace relationships are messy. If you and Adam are going to be on and off all the time, that effects the whole team and that's going to effect how well we all work together."

Hailey looked at him, shocked. "So," she began slowly, "you're saying sleeping with people we often work with is bad for the whole team?"

"Exactly." He said triumphantly.

"Like sleeping with a paramedic?" She jabbed.

"Oh." Jay hesitated. "But we don't work with her all the time."

Hailey exploded. "It doesn't matter Jay! What makes you think you have any opinion on who I sleep with! I make my own choices, and I'm damn sure to not let it effect the team!"

"Well of all people, Adam's a bad choice, I mean I like the guy but especially after what he did to Kim I wouldn't call him relationship material."

"Unbelievable." She said, standing up and walking to the door, opening it. "I've had enough of your opinions for one day." She said, motioning for him to leave.

"Geez, what's your problem?" He said, walking out.

"I can drive myself tomorrow." She said, and slammed the door in is face.

What nerve of that guy, telling her Adam was a bad choice. She was fuming. He thought she wouldnt put her team first? She wasn't allowed to just have fun with someone? Like she needed him to approve her relationships. She had a difficult time falling asleep, she was too busy trying to think of how she was going to get back at Jay the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

Driving to work without Hailey was boring. Jay couldn't wait to get to work so he could apologize. He saw her car in the lot when he parked, and he took the stairs two at a time, ready to grovel. But when he got to the top of the stairs, he stopped at the sight.

Hailey was sitting on Adam's desk. Adam was in his chair, joking about something, and Hailey was laughing. When she saw Jay at the top of the stairs, she reached out and touched Adam's arm, smiling her gorgeous smile at him.

Jay brushed past them, muttering to Hailey, "not a thing, huh?" Flopping down at his desk, he tried to ignore them.

"Alright," Voight called, getting their attention. "We're going to wrap things up from yesterday, then we have a new case." Pulling out the whiteboard he had already written all over, he began. "We've got a night club on the west side where someone's selling roofies. Slipping the into girl's drinks. We've already got 4 sexual assault cases from this past weekend and 1 girl dead. After some recon, you all can go home and get some sleep, then be back here at 9 in your best party clothes."

Hailey sat at her desk. Maybe she'd been a little mean flirting with Adam this morning. Jay had obviously been bothered. And it wasn't fair to lead Adam on. Voight approached her. "Are you alright to be the bait tonight?" He asked.

"You bet, Sarge. I've been dying to wear my new dress." She winked at him.

Voight sent them home around 2pm. They were supposed to rest since they'd be up all night, but Hailey was just laying in bed staring at the ceiling. Ugh, she hated fighting with Jay. She packed her bag and headed to his place.

Jay heard a knock around 3pm. Opening the door, Hailey was there with her bag slung over her shoulder.

"I need help picking out my outfit."

Jay was confused. "I thought you were pissed at me?"

Hailey sighed. "Yeah, I was pissed. But I know your just trying to protect the team and protect me. And I'm sorry I snapped about the Foster thing. Truce?"

Jay smiled. "Truce. I'm sorry I snapped about the Ruzek thing."

"Good. Cause seriously, I have no idea what to wear. I have no style," she said.

"What makes you think I can help?" He questioned.

"Well, your a guy. You know what guys like," she explained.

"That's valid," he laughed. "Alright, shoot."

Hailey went to Jay's room, putting on a hunter green dress. It was strapless, tight fitting down to her waist, then flared out at her hips.

"Option 1... " She said, walking out to Jay.

He shook his head. "To middle school dance."

She went back to his room, returning a few minutes later in a black dress with a deep neckline, showing a lot of cleavage. The bottom of the dress hung loosely to her knees.

"Option 2!"

Jay swallowed hard. "Better." He said.

"Alright I've got one more."

Hailey returned wearing a red dress that clung tightly to her petite frame. Her entire back was exposed, thin straps around her arms held the neckline along her collarbone. The bottom of the dress was skintight around her butt and hit about mid-thigh.

"Option 3."

"That one." Said Jay, breathlessly.

"Cool, I'm gonna change into my sweats till it's time to go" She turned to go back to his room, and he watched her go, her blonde hair spilled over her shoulders. "Damn." Jay whispered to himself. She was beautiful.

Hailey came back in sweatpants and a Blackhawks t-shirt. She flopped on the couch next to Jay. "Ugh, I barely slept last night, can we just chill till it's time to go?"

"Sure." He said. Even in sweatpants she was beautiful. Why was it suddenly so obvious?

They started watching Criminal Minds, one of their favorites. After a few episodes, he felt Hailey's head gently fall on his shoulder. Looking over he saw she was asleep. He dared not move, sitting rigid for hours watching her sleep more than he was watching the TV. Finally around 7, he gently woke her up. "Hey," he teased, "Quit drooling on me."

"Damn. What time is it?" She said, stretching and rubbing her eyes.

"Time to start getting ready."

The ate some supper and got ready, Hailey putting on her dress and attempting make up. "Jay, you don't happen to have an artistic gift, do you?" She laughed. "I probably should've had one of the girls help me."

Jay was hovering at the bathroom door, not quite sure what to do.

"Yeah, i didn't have a sister, sorry," he managed.

"Alright." She said looking in the mirror. "What do I do with this birds nest?" She pointed at her blonde head.

"Just leave it, it makes you look a little wasted," Jay laughed, easing back into their playful banter.

She gave him a look. "I can still beat your ass, even in a dress."

The met up with the rest of the team. Jay, Hailey, Kim and Vanessa would be patrons to the club. Adam was acting as a bartender and Kevin was a bouncer. Jay arrived at the club first, the girls showed up soon after, pretending to be a bachelorette group.

Sitting at the bar, they were loud and obnoxious, cheering Hailey for her 'upcoming wedding.' Jay slid into the seat next to her.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"Only if you're buying for my friends," Hailey slurred.

Adam poured her a drink. Unbeknownst to other patrons, it was just water.

Jay bought Hailey some more 'drinks', pretending to flirt with her while she giggled. Getting up to go to the bathroom, Jay left his seat empty.

"May I buy you a drink?"

Hailey turned. A man with dark hair and a goatee sat next to her. She batted her eyes. "Are you buying for my friends, too?"

The man smiled, but the smile didn't meet his eyes. "Of course."

Adam came over to pour drinks, but the man shook his head. "Id like a knew bottle, could someone bring it from the back?"

Odd. Adam went into the back storage room, but before he returned, another bartender was pouring. The bartender put an umbrella in her drink.

"I don't usually get an umbrella in my martini?" She questioned the bartender.

He smiled mischievously. "For the future bride."

Adam was watching from the other end of the bar. "Boss," he said into his radio. "I think there's something on the umbrellas."

"Take them." Voight responded.

Jay had returned. He stepped behind the man next to Hailey saying "Chicago PD."

The man whipped the glass in his hand into Jay's face. Hailey and Kim took off after him, while Adam and Vanessa grabbed the bartender. As the offender neared the door, Kevin tackled him, pinning him to the ground.

In his haste to get out the door, the offender had pushed a woman on the ground and she had been trampled in the commotion.

"Call an ambo." Hailey said into her radio. "Geez Jay," she said, walking back to him. "Better have them look at your eye."

A nasty cut was over Jay's eye, blood running down the side of his face. They cleared the area, making space around the injured woman and bagging up the evidence. The bartender and the man who had sat beside Hailey were already flipping on each other for deals.

The paramedics arrived, tending to the girl on the floor. One of them walked over to Jay.

"Want me to take a look, handsome?" Foster grinned.

Jay internally groaned. But cleared his throat and said, "Sure." Emily cleaned his wound, putting medical tape over the cut. "Should be good, just keep it clean." She told him.

Emily winked at him. "If you need any other nursing, you know where to find me."

Hailey rolled her eyes and scoffed, Emily giving her an odd look.

"Uh, yeah. Can we talk?" Jay pulled Foster to the side. "Look, I think the other night was just a one time thing. I'd like to keep things professional between us."

Foster shrugged. "Fine by me." She walked away to help load the victim in the ambulance, and Jay returned to Hailey.

"What, did you ask her to marry you," Hailey joked, but she was genuinely curious what Jay had said to Emily.

"Nah, I just said that there wouldn't be any repeats of the other night."

"Oh. Probably for the best, right?" Hailey told him.

"Mhmm," he agreed. She was right. Workplace relationships were definitely a bad idea. Voight at one point had a rule against them, but his team was bad at following that rule. It was hard to find someone outside the CPD to date when 75% of their time was spent working. The other 25% was usually devoted to sleeping.

Adam walked up beside Hailey. "Loving that dress," he winked. "Want me to give you a ride home?"

Hailey glanced at Jay. "Um, no thanks Adam, my car is actually at Jay's so..."

Adam nodded."Okay, cool. See you guys tomorrow... Well I guess later today," he said noting the time.

Jay and Hailey drove back to his place. It was almost 3am. She went with him up to his apartment to grab her things, complaining "Man, what's the point of even going home. We have to go back in in a few hours."

Jay unlocked his door, entering the apartment. "Hey, you're welcome to sleep here if you're too tired to drive home?" He suggested.

"Seriously?" That actually wasn't a bad idea.

"Yeah. You can have my bed, I'll take the couch."

She wrinkled up her nose, pretending to be disgusted. "Mmmmm no thanks, I'll take the couch. No offense, but I saw the other morning what happens in that bed," she said with a laugh.

"Fair enough."

Hailey took a shower, surprised by how neat Jay's bathroom was. When she was done, she peaked in the closet for a towel, but found none. "Jay!" She shouted. "Where do you keep your towels?!" She heard his feet padding down the hallway, then a knock on the door.

"Sorry, I keep them in the hall closet." She peaked around the door and he handed one to her, keeping his eyes on the floor. Once she was dry and dressed, she returned to the living room.

"Alright, I'm gonna shower and go to bed," he said. "Night, Hail."

"Night." Hailey said, snuggling into the couch, drifting off into a restful sleep.

Until she was woken up by Jay's screams.


	4. Chapter 4

Hailey rushed into Jay's room, seeing him thrashing around, his covers thrown off, his bare chest glistening with sweat. She tried to grab his arms, but he punched her in the face. "Damn it! JAY, its HAILEY!" She shouted. Her voice seemed to bring him out of the cloud he was in, and he sat up, looking confused.

"Hail...Hailey?" He questioned.

"Yes, Jay. Remember? I was sleeping on your couch when I heard you screaming."

"Shit." He blushed, embarrassed. "Sorry, Hail. I guess I should've warned you, sometimes I have nightmares. Um, therapy has really helped, but they still come sometimes." He looked at her, clutching her face, and realization set in."Damn, did I hurt you?"

"Yeah. You should've used that right hook when we were boxing, maybe you would've won," she teased, although she could feel her eye swelling.

Jay was beside himself. "I am so so sorry Hail. I should've warned you. It hardly ever happens anymore."

She sat down on the bed next to him, putting her hand on his bare shoulder. "It's okay. I'll heal. I'm glad therapy is going well." She said, tenderly. She knew Jay had plenty of demons from his army days. She had suggested therapy, and she was happy to hear it was helping him.

Jay rubbed his forehead. "Here, let me get you some ice for your eye." They went out to the kitchen, Jay got ice out of the freezer and wrapped it in a towel for Hailey's eye. "We're gonna have to tell Voight my partner beats me," she joked.

Jay was quiet.

"Dude, I will be fine. I've had much worse accidents on the job." She assured.

"Yeah but I didn't cause those." He said, embarrassed.

"Seriously, Jay. Lighten up, I'm fine. We've got to be at work in an hour, we might as well get ready." So with the extra time, Jay made his partner bacon and eggs for breakfast, apologizing profusely for her eye.

When they got to District 21, the skin all around Hailey's eye was black and blue. As Hailey was getting out of the truck, Jay put his hand on her arm, stopping her. "Look, is there any way we can avoid telling the team it was me who gave you the black eye?" Hailey knew he was embarrassed about what happened, so she agreed to not tell the team.

But when they walked in the door, it was hard to avoid the issue.

Everyone stopped. "Whoa. Upton, what happened to your face?" Rojas asked.

"Oh you know me, I'm such a klutz. I slipped last night when we were chasing that guy and banged my eye up," she lied, glancing at Jay.

"Ouch. Better get some ice from the break room," Kim said.

Hailey nodded and went to do just that. When she came back, Voight was giving orders for the day. "Alright, we've got a cocaine dealer, Gian Fredricks, in Inglewood, I want Halstead and Upton to run some surveillance, see if this address is the stash house." He handed them a paper.

They loaded up their gear in the van and headed to Inglewood. Waiting in the van, they picked their usual game.

"Would you rather be happy with no money or have lots of money but not be happy?" Jay asked her.

"Easy. I'd just want to be happy. The world's so wrapped up in material things, ya know?" He nodded in agreement."Okay, would you rather sleep with someone new every week, or only one person your whole life?" She asked.

He thought for a moment, trying to think of how to word his answer. "Well," he began slowly, "I'd like to get married someday... Maybe once the job isn't so crazy I'd like to settle down and have a few kids. So that should just be with one person the rest of your life I guess. You?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah, that sounds nice." Then they were both quiet for a while until Hailey perked up.

"Look. Over there, red Ford escape, isn't that our guy?" She pointed.

Jay got out his camera and started taking pictures. "Looks like it. He's got a duffle bag, maybe with bricks in it."

"EXCUSE ME." Hailey jumped. Someone was shouting at her through the passenger window. She rolled it down halfway. A young woman stood there, looking angry.

"Why y'all here takin pictures, whatchyou doin?" She huffed.

"Ma'am, were just looking at houses, were interested in buying in this neighborhood, thought we'd take some pictures for our investors," Hailey explained.

The woman didn't look like she was buying it, and stormed off into her house.

"Call Voight." Jay said.

Hailey hit his name quickly and he picked up. "Sarge, a woman spotted us, I think we've been made."

"Alright, wrap it up and get back here I've got-"

Sudden gunfire erupted from the stash house. Hailey and Jay dove for the back of the van. Jay threw his body over Hailey's, trying to protect her from gunfire. He tucked his head down into her neck, smelling her sweet hair and he thought for a second, this wouldn't be such a bad way to die.

Hailey had dropped her phone, and she could hear Voight yelling, asking if they were alright. The gunfire ceased, and she could hear sirens in the distance. Jay put his foot on her phone dragging it up to where he could grab it, and handed it back to Hailey.

"Sarge," she whispered, "we're okay. We're on the floor of the van."

"I have the nearest patrol headed to you, do not move. Stay down until we can secure the area. I'll be there in five. Stay on the line with me."

Hailey set the phone next to her. Half of Jay's body was still covering hers. His face was inches above her own.

"Am I squishing you?" He asked.

"You're good." She swallowed. If she were to just pick her head off the floor, she could kiss him.

"I didn't realize your eyes had so much green in them." Jay said quietly, staring deep into her eyes. For a while they just stared at each other.

"You know what Jay Halstead?" Hailey whispered. "If your face is the last thing I see, I'd be okay with that." He smiled at her, lowering his head closer to-

Someone banged on the side of the van. "Chicago PD, everyone okay in there?" They asked.

"Yeah, were good." Jay yelled. He looked down at Hailey. Man, he'd never noticed those eyes before.

"Um. Jay?" Hailey said, "you can get off me now."

"Right! Sorry!" Jay rolled away, getting out of the van. Hailey climbed out of the van too, and was met by Voight. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah," they both said.

"Well we're on to something." Voight said, surveying the van. "Glad you guys are alright. Go back and get cleaned up."

At the end of the day, they walked out to Jay's truck. "You headed home or do you want to hang out?" He said to Hailey.

"Well..." She smiled mischievously, "we did have a deal that if I went to boxing with you, you would come to a class with me..."

"Right. So you want me to go to water aerobics with you or something?"

Hailey laughed. "Come with me and find out!"

_Author's Note: Have any ideas for other One Chicago romance stories? PM me you're favorite One Chicago couple!_


	5. Chapter 5

"Pilates?!" Jay laughed, "seriously, I think I'll be fine."

They had arrived to Hailey's class, and she'd told Jay what they were doing. He was convinced it would be easy, and Hailey just raised her eyebrows at him.

An hour later, Jay lay on his back on the mat. "My abs have never been so sore," he groaned.

Hailey was laughing. "Dude, don't underestimate Pilates."

Jay groaned again, rolling over. "Damn, where's the showers? I'm getting cleaned up, then we're going to Molly's."

"This way, there co-ed." Hailey explained, "not too many guys come here."

Jay took the shower next to Hailey. The wall was high enough he could only just see the shower head on her side, and they could easily still talk.

"Hey Hail," he joked, "I'm going to tell Adam we showered together."

She laughed. "In your dreams, Halstead."

"Uggghhhh," Jay groaned, "I can't even lift up my arms."

"Need me to come over and help you?" As it came out of her mouth, Hailey realized all that implied. Maybe that was too far.

Jay was shocked. 'Yes' was too forward. 'No' was a lie. He most definitely would have welcomed Hailey to join him. He started thinking of her in that red dress, her slender back exposed and the fabric stretched tight over her butt. Now if only he could imagine what she'd look like without the dress...

"Um, Jay? I was joking." She said when she heard nothing from him. Well that was awkward.

Jay snapped out of it. Shit. He turned the water to cold. He was going to need to stay here a while.

Hailey left the locker room, Jay was still finishing up. She walked out, drying her hair.

"Hey Hailey!" Her trainer Jill ran over. "It was great you brought your husband today!"

"Oh, he's not my husband, he's just my partner," she clarified, "work partner."

"Oh really? Well, he did a great job for a beginner. Is he seeing anyone?" Jill questioned

"Um, i think he is, sorry," Hailey lied.

Jay walked out of the locker room. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she said, walking out to his truck. They started driving to Molly's. "Hey, did you notice the trainer Jill?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Um, she was the trainer. We looked at her the whole time."

"I mean like, did you think she was pretty?"

Jay looked at her quizzically. "Um, I really didn't think about it. Why, want me to ask if she'll go out with you?" He joked.

"Ha. Ha. No, she just said she was into you so..." She trailed off.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm not interested."

"Okay. Still hung up on Foster?"

Jay glared at her. "I thought we called a truce on that issue."

"Right. Sorry." They were quiet the rest of the way to Molly's. And when they walked in the door, who was the first person to grab Hailey?

"Hey beautiful, let me buy you a drink," Adam insisted.

"Um. No thanks," she said, glancing at Jay. He always looked so pissed when Adam flirted with her. He must really care about putting the teams interests ahead of romantic relationships within the unit. "I promised Jay a beer if he came to Pilates with me." She told Adam.

"Isn't that like a chick thing?" Adam laughed.

Jay looked at him seriously. "Do not," he took a sip of his beer, "underestimate Pilates."

"Well I might have to try it out then," Adam chuckled. Kim, overhearing the conversation, came over.

"I'm sorry, did you say you want to try Pilates? Please, let me go with you so I can watch." Kim laughed.

Adam and Kim started talking, so Hailey and Jay slipped away to their own table. "I hope Kim takes a video of Adam to share with the rest of us," Hailey said. They were still laughing at the mental picture of big, brawny Adam in a room full of women doing core exercises.

After drinks, they headed back to Jay's. Hailey's car was still parked outside his building from the day before. Jay walked her to her car. "How's your eye?" He asked.

"Oh I barely notice it." She turned leaning against her car. Jay stepped closer to her, silently touching his hand to the purple bruise around her eye, his eyes locked on hers. Hailey swallowed hard. Her breath quickened.

"Better put ice on that." He said softly. Dropping his hand, he walked into his apartment building.

Hailey climbed into her black SUV. For a moment, she just sat there, reliving what had just happened. Jay was her best friend, but that moment had been so tender, so... Intimate. For a second she thought she saw something more than friendship in his eyes. And it made her question her own feelings for Jay Halstead.


	6. Chapter 6

Jay drove to pick up Hailey the next day. Yesterday, when they'd been in the showers, he'd joked about telling Adam they had showered together and she'd said, "in your dreams, Halstead." That was exactly what he'd dreamt about all night. And then that morning he'd spent most of breakfast trying to come up with an explanation for his actions when they were at Hailey's car, and he couldn't justify any platonic reasoning. He was fairly certain he had feelings for Hailey, but acting on them would definitely make things messy.

She was waiting on the sidewalk when he pulled up. "I need coffee." She groaned. Barely sleeping the past two nights was catching up to her. And her lack of sleep both nights was because of Jay.

Stopping at their favorite cafe, they stood in line to get their coffee. "How are your abs today?" Hailey said with a grin.

Jay lifted up his shirt a bit, showing off a glimpse of skin saying "still there." She laughed.

They got their coffee and headed into work. Voight was business as usual. "Alright, one of Attwater's CIs got us a drug buy from Gian Fredricks, were gonna set up a meet." Loading up their gear, Hailey took her sniper rifle. Her, Jay and Adam would cover Vanessa and Kevin while they made the buy. Burgess and Voight were covering the exits.

They were set up under the bridge an hour before the drug dealers showed up. A dark green Escalade pulled in, Attwater's CI shaking hands with the passenger. Introducing Attwater and Rojas with fictious names, they began negotiating.

Hailey saw a flicker in the Escalade. "Sarge, there's more people in that SUV," she whispered into the radio.

Kevin was handing over the money when Fredricks pulled out a gun, yelling at Kevin to get on the ground.

Rojas and Attwater dropped, and pandamonium erupted. Fredricks shot the CI, Jay took out Fredricks, then whoever was in the SUV started shooting at Jay. Hailey picked off the guy in the SUV with her rifle. Adam snuck up to the other side of the SUV, pulling out another passenger. Adam declared, "all clear," and Hailey ran down to the CI, putting pressure on the wound in his abdomen. "JAY! You alright?!" She shouted.

No response.

"Adam!" She screamed.

"I got this guy, go!" Ruzek told Hailey, swapping places with her.

She ran over to Jay's position, he was laying on the ground clutching his side, blood pooling around him.

"Jay, are you okay?! Where are you hit?"

He groaned, through gritted teeth saying, "my side, i think it went through but it hurts like a bitch."

Hailey ripped of his shirt and vest. The bullet had caught him above his right hip. Jay's eyes started to flutter.

"Jay, stay with me, don't go to sleep on me, Jay," she was shouting at him.

He was trying to focus on her voice, but her face was swimming. Reaching out he touched her still swollen eye. "Hailey..." His eyes closed.

"JAY," she shouted. She had to keep him awake.

So she kissed him.

Jay's eyes flew open. This had to be a dream... Hailey's soft lips were on his and she tasted like peppermint gum. His hand that was on her face slid around to the back of her neck, pulling her in for a deeper kiss. His other hand wrapped around her waist.

"Uh, whatchya doin guys?"

Hailey sprang away from Jay flushed. Kim stood there, a bemused look on her face. "He's going to need an ambo," Hailey said, not meeting Kim's gaze. "I was trying to keep him awake."

Kim smiled. "Mhmm."

The paramedics arrived, Hailey was glad to see it wasn't Foster. They loaded Jay up and were off to Chicago Med. Hailey tried to help wrap up the scene, but she was distracted. Voight must've sensed that, because he pulled her aside and said, "We got this, go check on your partner."

Hailey drove to Med, finding Jay's brother, Will when she got there. "Any news on Jay?"

"He'll be fine." Will said. "He's just going to need stitches, the bullet went through. You should be able to see him in an hour."

So she sat on the edge of her seat in the waiting room, elbows on her knees, hands clasped in front of her. She could not get her right leg to stop shaking nervously. She just kept thinking about that kiss.

Finally Will told her she could see Jay. Walking into his room she said, "Hey. You gave me a scare there."

"Eh, I'm just a big baby, it wasn't that bad."

She smiled, glad he was back to himself. Now, what about that kiss?

"Look Jay-"

"Hailey I-"

They both stopped, not quite sure what to say. Finally, Hailey spoke. "Look Jay, I'm sorry I kissed you, i was just trying to keep you awake. I shouldn't have done that, I mean, were partners, and you know workplaces relationships are messy and all..." She trailed off, hoping he would stop her and say she was wrong.

"Right." He said, looking down. If she wanted to pretend like it didn't happen, he would do that too. He knew romantic pursuits had great potential to destroy their great partnership.

Jay insisted on going home that night, but Will was against it. "You shouldn't be alone, with all the pain meds you're on, what if you screw up your dosage? Im not letting you leave unless you have someone stay with you."

Jay glanced at Hailey. He wasn't going to miss an opportunity to ask her to sleep over. Even if they were just friends. "Hey, um, Upton? Any chance you can help me out?"

She hesitated. Sleeping at Jay's. Well, she had already done that once this week, but now that they'd kissed it took on a whole different meaning.

Noticing Hailey's hesitation, Jay said "I mean, I could try calling Kevin..." Jay's only family was Will, and he had 7 more hours in his hospital shift.

"Oh, no. That's fine, I can stay at your place." Hailey said. I mean what harm could sleeping on the couch do?

Hailey pulled her car around while the nurse helped Jay dress in some of Will's extra scrubs to wear home, then Will went over Jay's medication with him and Hailey and he was discharged. They drove back to his place and Hailey helped him in the door. He was very stiff and sore, but otherwise in good spirits.

"Alright, you should probably get some rest." Hailey told him. She sent him back to his room to change while she made him something to eat.

After an unusually long time, Jay still wasn't back. Hailey went and knocked on his door. "Jay, you okay?"

"Um... No. Could I get some help?"

Hailey opened the door and let out a laugh. Jay was standing in the room in his underwear, his shirt was off of his left arm, but still around his neck and right arm.

"I can't lift my arm high enough to get my shirt off." He said awkwardly.

Hailey stepped closer to him, sliding her hand gently between his skin and the shirt. She slowly pulled his shirt off the rest of the way, his eyes watching her the whole time.

She went over to his dresser, pulled out a shirt and sweatpants, and helped him put them on. She held out the pants for him to step into, and pulled them up to his waist, her touch grazing his hips. As she slid the shirt over his head and pulled it down his body, her hands lightly brushed his chest and abs. Not thinking, Hailey wrapped her arms around his torso and embraced him.

"I'm glad you didn't die today. Don't ever do this again," she whispered.

"Copy that, boss." He said quietly with a small smile, squeezing her petite frame. His face was in her hair again, and he just couldn't get enough of her smell. They stood like that for a while, probably longer than friends should.

Pulling away, Hailey turned to go back to the kitchen. "I have your supper and pills," she told him.

"Why thank you nurse Upton," he said, taking them from her. When they were done with supper she helped him into bed, pulling the covers over him.

"Goodnight, Jay."

"Night Hail."

And she returned to her couch, laying there wishing she was somewhere else.


	7. Chapter 7

Hailey woke up early, trying to register where she was. Right. Jay's couch. She walked softly back the hallway, peaking into Jay's room. He was sleeping soundly, his chest rising and falling as he steadily breathed. Hailey noted the time, going back out to the kitchen to get Jay's next round of medication. Returning to his room, she sat on the edge of his bed, gently putting her hand on his shoulder, she said softly, "Jay."

He stirred, not opening his eyes. "Hailey?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's time for your meds."

His eyes cracked open, he was sure this was a dream. Why was Hailey in his room? What was she saying? He pulled her arm saying, "lay down with me."

She lay in the space next to him, their bodies turned to face each other. Jay scooted over and placed his forehead against hers. His hand slid up over her hip to her waist, and he pulled her body closer.

"This is a much better dream than the other night," he said, referring to the last time she'd been there and he'd had a nightmare.

A dream? Hailey thought. Great, he was so doped up on pain meds he didn't even realize reality.

Taking advantage of the situation, Hailey lightly brushed her lips over his, and it was like a switch was thrown. Jay reacted immediately, kissing her back deeply, sliding his hand under her shirt to her bare back. His hand slipped up to her bare shoulders, caressing her back. He rolled over, pulling her on top of him, passionately kissing her as his other hand entwined in her hair.

Hailey's brain was screaming stop, but her body wanted more. Jay's hands were starting to pull her shirt over her head, and she stilled them. Giving him one last kiss, she reluctantly got off of him and helped him take his meds. "Here, Jay." He swallowed them, confused. This was a very odd dream.

She tucked him back in, kissing his forehead. She returned to the kitchen. No way would she fall back asleep, so she cleaned up his apartment to pass the time.

Jay woke up. His side was sore, but otherwise he felt pretty good. He'd dreamt about Hailey again last night, and it had been so realistic. He gathered his clothes and walked out to the living room, where Hailey was ... Dusting? Was she dusting his TV?

"Am I going to get a bill for this?" He questioned.

She spun around, surprised. "Sorry, Just couldn't sleep so..." She motioned around the room. "I tidied up a bit."

Jay held up his clothes. "Can you help me get dressed?" He asked.

"Jay, you got shot yesterday, you aren't going to work."

He sighed. He knew this was going to be an issue. "Hailey, I can't just sit around. You know you would feel the same if it was you."

He was right. "Fine, but I'm having Sarge put you on desk duty." She ordered.

"Im pretty sure I outrank you so..." He said with a laugh.

"Seriously? You're pulling rank?!" She laughed, shaking her head.

He held up his clothes again. "Detective Upton, I'm ordering you to help me get dressed!" He smiled.

She helped him pull his shirt up over his head, his pants he could get off on his own, he just couldn't reach down to the floor to pull them up. He stood in front of her in his boxers as she took the bandage off his side, replacing it with a new dressing. Man, he thought, he wouldve been embarrassed to do this with Kevin, and yet the fact that it was Hailey didn't even bother him. It exhilarated him.

Once the bandage was in place, she helped him pull on his jeans, she fumbled awkwardly with the button, fully aware of where her hands were.

"Um, Hailey?" Jay said, "my fingers still work, but if you want to keep trying..."

"Right!" She said stepping back. She blushed, looking away. Geez, Hailey, she thought, pull it together. This guy was her best friend. Practically like a brother, she told herself, not very convincingly.

He had gotten his jeans buttoned and she helped him put on a button up shirt, he could reach the buttons at the bottom comfortably, but the ones up top we're a little tricky, so she did those. All the time it took to get him dressed and it was already time to go, so they walked down to Hailey's car and headed to work.

When they walked in, Jay took the stairs slowly. Platt raised her eyebrows at him saying, "shouldnt you be on medical leave?"

"Aw, thanks for caring, Sarge. But I'm good."

"Yeah we'll see what Voight says about that."

They headed upstairs, Kim and Adam were there, asking how he was feeling. Voight walked out saying, "Halstead, Upton my office."

He closed the door behind them.

"Halstead, why are you here? You have two weeks of medical leave."

"Sarge, I can't sit around staring at the wall for two weeks." Jay insisted.

"Put him on two weeks of desk duty," Haley suggested. "Save me two weeks of paperwork."

Voight nodded. That would save them a lot of time. "Alright, Upton I'm going to pair you with Burgess."

Hailey and Kim were sitting in the car, waiting to grab a suspect for questioning. "So," Kim began, "you and Jay, huh?"

Hailey sighed. She knew they were going to have to talk about this. "Um, yeah it's nothing. I just reacted to keep him awake -"

Kim interrupted. "Save it, Hail. You're not fooling me. You don't treat him anything like the other guys."

"Well that's because he's my partner but that's it, nothing else," Hailey said weakly.

Kim looked her in the eyes. "Hailey, you would be a fool if you just try to keep your feelings bottled up." Looking away she sighed, "Trust me, I get it. Having feelings for someone else within the unit is complicated, but isn't it also complicated to try and ignore your feelings?"

Did Kim still have a thing for Adam? When her and Adam were together, they had wanted to keep it a secret to spare Kim's feelings and when they had finally told her, Kim seemed really chill about it. But maybe she wasn't...

Kim pointed out there suspect and they got out of the car.

"Excuse me?" Kim said smiling widely at him. "We are just so lost, could you help us with directions?"

Hailey stepped behind him, "Chicago PD, you need to come with us."

Kim smiled smugly at the guy as he grumbled about cops being too pretty these days.

Returning to the station, Hailey let Kim and Voight interrogate the suspect while she went to check on Jay. He was sitting at his desk, a stack of paperwork in front of him. She sat on the corner of his desk.

"How you doing?"

"Stiff. I'm not sure if it's from the bullet hole or still Pilates trauma." He said, smiling.

Leave it to Jay to keep a positive attitude.

"Hey, I was wondering -" she began.

Adam and Kevin walked up the stairs and Hailey shut her mouth. Why was she always getting interupted? Jay gave her a questioning look and she touched his shoulder saying, "we can talk later."

They finished out their day, Hailey never got a free moment with Jay. Walking out, he went over to his truck, still in the parking lot from the day before. "Jay. You can't drive." She reprimanded him.

He handed her his keys. "So you drive."

She looked at him, shocked. "Jay Halstead, you want me to drive your truck?!"

He looked at her seriously. "This is the ultimate level of partner trust."

She got in the driver's seat, heading out of the lot Jay said, "are we going to Molly's?"

"Dude, you're on pain meds."

Jay pouted. "Just because I can't drink doesn't mean we can't go hang out."

Hailey shook her head. "I'm taking you home to rest. You shouldn't have even done what you did today."

Arriving at his apartment, they went inside, him flopping on the couch. The turned on Netflix, watching Stranger Things and discussing their various theories of what was going on. Then Jay said, "Hey, what did you want to talk about earlier?"

She had wanted to talk to him about last night. But now, sitting here alone in his cozy living room, she got nervous.

"Um, I was just wondering if you needed me to stay again tonight?"

Absolutely. Preferably in his bed, he thought. Jay nodded his head, "I'd like that. I enjoy you undressing me," he said boldly, and winked.

He had no idea just how much she enjoyed this, but she knew she was in dangerous territory. She didn't say anything, and he sensed he'd made her uncomfortable.

"Sorry, that was too far. Can you help me get my shirt off so I can shower?" He asked. "I can get the button on my pants myself," he said slyly.

She helped him take off his shirt and put a waterproof bandage over his stitches. He went back to the bathroom, undressing the rest of the way and getting in the shower.

Hailey was waiting out on the couch, thinking. If he couldn't get his pants on by himself, how was he going to get his boxers on?

The she heard him calling her, urgently. "Hailey! I need help!"

She ran back to the bathroom, he was standing outside the shower, soaking wet, doing his best to clutch a towel around him. The bandages on his side were red with blood.

"Call Will." He gasped.


	8. Chapter 8

"What happened?!" Hailey gasped, running to his side. The bandage was soaked with blood and it was beginning to run down his side.

"Get my phone from my pants," he pointed, "Call Will."

Hailey grabbed his phone and hit Will's contact. He answered, sounding sleepy.

"Jay, I just got to bed after a shift, this better be important."

"Hey Will, it's Hailey. Jay's stitches started bleeding when he got out of the shower, I'm not sure what to do."

"Alright, I'm headed over. He might have torn a stitch, that's not uncommon. How much blood?"

She looked at Jay's side, assessing the situation.

"The bandage on the front entry wound is soaked, the back wound looks okay."

"Okay, put a clean bandage on it and apply pressure till I get there."

Hailey hung up. "Jay, what happened?"

He looked at her sheepishly. "I was trying to put my boxers on and I bent wrong and..." He gestured at his side.

"Jay. Why didn't you ask for my help?"

"Hailey... I thought I could spare myself some embarrassment."

"Well now look at the mess your in," she scolded him. "Now I have to help you anyway." She raised her eyebrows.

She went out to get a fresh bandage and changed the dressing, Jay managed to keep his towel around him. Then she picked up the boxers off the floor, bending down she held them out and closed her eyes. "Step." She ordered.

"Im not three, Hailey." He said as she helped him pull them up.

"Really? Because you're acting like it." She snapped.

"Geez, what did I do?"

"Jay, you're suppose to take care of yourself so you can heal, and get back to being my partner."

He frowned. "I am taking care of myself."

"Not when you're being too stubborn to ask for help!"

"Okay, can you HELP me put these sweatpants on?"

She glared at him, helping him put on his pants. Then they went out to the living room where he laid on the couch. The new bandage was also turning red, but at a much slower rate.

Someone knocked on the door, Hailey opened it and let Will in. He had a medical bag with him. "I never get to use this." He said, holding it up. Walking over to Jay, he took off the bandage and assessed the wound, Hailey hovering over his shoulder.

"Well, it looks like maybe you just tore a few stitches. If the bleeding has slowed that's a good sign. I can stay and monitor you and see if we need to go into Med."

Turning to Hailey he said, "You could probably go home, Hailey, I know you've been really helpful to Jay, you deserve some time off." He said, smiling. "I can stay with him this weekend."

Hailey nodded. "That's probably a good idea." She looked at Jay. "Hey, man, I'll see ya. And it better not be at work." She insisted.

Jay sighed. "Fine, but if I'm going to be a recluse you need to visit."

She smiled her gorgeous smile at him. "Deal."

Hailey slept peacefully in her own bed that night. The next morning she went to Pilates and did some grocery shopping. Vanessa invited her for drinks in the evening. She texted Jay, he was doing good, Will wasn't letting him lift a finger. Her Sunday was just as uneventful. In the evening, she went to visit Jay.

Will was at the hospital, so Jay was alone when Hailey knocked on the door. When he opened it, he smiled when he saw her. "Hey, I missed you." He said softly.

Sudden noise came up the stairs.

\- and you put anchovies on it. Who does that? They're disgusting, that one is all yours."

Kim, Adam and Kevin came around the corner, carrying pizza boxes. Kim was berating Kevin for his toppings choices.

"Well no one's kissing Kev tonight," Adam joked.

Jay looked at Hailey confused.

"I thought maybe you'd be up for a party." She said, smiling.

He tried not to look too disappointed. He would've preferred to just to hang out with Hailey.

The crew took over his apartment. Rojas showed up 30 minutes later. Hailey had even invited Voight, but he said he was a maybe, so they figured he wasn't coming. He didn't usually hang out with them. Pizza was passed around, the Bears game was turned on. Everyone was talking and laughing, and having a great time. Hailey noticed Jay was sitting in the armchair, not really engaging in any conversation.

He got up to go to the bathroom and Hailey followed, slipping in the door behind him.

"Shit, Hailey you scared me."

"Hey, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" He said, confused.

"You don't seem like your having fun."

He shrugged. "Just not really feeling social."

"We can leave?" She asked.

He sighed. "I don't want you to leave."

"What the hell? You just said you're not feeling social."

"No, Hailey. I don't want YOU to leave."

Oh. What he was saying registered with her. He had only wanted to see her. And she had invited a bunch of people to his place.

She put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry Jay. I should've asked first. I can stay after they leave?" She said.

"I'd like that."

She turned and went out the door, looking back to see if he was following.

"Um, I actually came in here to use the bathroom..."

"Oh right! Sorry!" She laughed, returning to the others. Adam already had many beers in him and was doing impersonations. Making his voice gravelly, he was saying, "Attwater, get me a piece of pizza, that's an order."

"Is that suppose to be me?" A husky voice said from the door.

Sure enough, there was Voight. The whole team laughed at Adam's expense, who had turned red.

Jay returned from the bathroom. "Hey, Sarge."

"Halstead. I wanted to see how you're doing. Good to see you vertical."

"Thanks, Sarge." They shook hands.

"I also want you to take your two weeks medical leave and let that heal. That's an order." Voight demanded, glancing over to Adam with a half smile.

Jay looked at Hailey who was giving him a death stare and he nodded. Hailey wasn't going to back down this time.

Voight didn't stay long, he knew being around put a damper on the teams' fun. They all wanted his respect and honor. Ever since he walked in the door, Adam had been silent.

Eventually, everyone headed out. Hailey hung behind on the pretense that she was going to help clean up, which she did.

Then she sat on the couch with Jay.

"How ya holding up?" She asked, patting his knee.

"I'm good. Still sore. I miss my nurse though, Will isn't quite as pretty," he smiled.

She laughed. "When does he get back?"

"His shift is over at 7am. So I'm alone tonight, I guess." He glanced over to see her reaction.

"Oh." Hailey thought for a moment. "Well, I could stay if you don't want to be alone?"

Jay perked up. "That'd be great." He tried not to seem to eager.

She nodded. "I don't have any clothes though. Can I borrow some to sleep in?"

He nodded. "You know where they are."

She went to his room, grabbing a t-shirt and sweatpants. When she emerged from the bathroom after a shower, Jay laughed at the sight of her. His t-shirt covered her butt, and she had to hold the pants up when she walked. Hailey gave Jay a look and said, "Foster didn't happen to leave an outfit, did she?" That shut him up real quick.

They settled on the couch watching TV, Jay propped on pillows on one end, Hailey with her knees tucked up to her chin on the other end. They talked and laughed well into the evening, falling asleep on the couch together.

Hailey slowly woke up the next morning. Her head rested on something hard. Peaking an eye open, she realized she has somehow moved from her end of the couch to his. Jay was still propped up in the corner of the couch, and Hailey had curled next to him, her head resting on his chest and his arm tight around her. She slowly tried to move out from under his grasp, but his eyes cracked open.

"Hey." He said gently.

"Hey. Sorry, I'm squishing you."

"No, it's okay."

"Really, you don't mind the drool?" She said, smiling and sitting up.

Jay also tried to sit up, wincing with pain. Sleeping on the couch didn't exactly help the abdominal wound situation.

"Do you want me to get your meds?" She asked, concerned.

"Nah. I stopped taking the pain meds."

"What? Jay. Don't be tough." She scolded.

"No really, I'm fine." He insisted. "Especially after the whole thing with Antonio... I just don't want to use them if I don't need to. Plus, they give me weird dreams." He said, rubbing his forehead.

Right. Weird dreams. Like that 'dream' he had the first night Hailey stayed with him after he came home from the hospital. Sudden guilt and shame filled Hailey. She took a deep breath. "Jay, I have to be honest with you."

He looked at her, confused. "What?"

"The night I brought you home from the hospital. That wasn't a dream."

He was puzzled. What dream? The only dream he remembered was the one where she'd been in his bed and he'd pulled her on top of him and...

Hailey watched his face as he figured out what she was saying. No turning back now. Realization set in and he reached for her hand. Hailey saw the look in his eyes. The same look he'd had when he'd touched her eye after walking her to her car. Jay started to move his body closer to hers, and Hailey stood up quickly.

"I can't, Jay. I... I can't do this. I'm sorry." She started grabbing her things.

"Hailey, wait, can we just talk?"

"I need to go, I need to... Get to work, I'm sorry, forget I said anything, I'm sorry." Hailey was rambling as she made for the door, closing it quickly behind her.

Jay was shocked. Did she have feelings for him too? He was determined to find out.


	9. Chapter 9

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry, guys, trying to update ASAP, but this is Thanksgiving week in the US so I've been busy! This chapter is an important one! _

Hailey rushed to work, her brain going a mile a minute. Why had she told Jay the truth about the night she'd laid in his bed with him? She should've just let it go. They were good friends. Best friends, actually. And they worked together. Did she really want to screw up what they had now for romance?

She was almost to the station when she realized she was still wearing Jay's shirt and pants. Swearing she made a detour to he house to change. Rushing up the steps, the rest of the team was waiting for her.

"Upton. It's not like you to be late." Voight scolded.

"Sorry, Sarge, I swung by Jay's to check on him." That wasn't a total lie.

Voight nodded. He couldn't really argue with that. Being on medical leave for two weeks was going to kill Halstead, it was nice he had a partner like Hailey to keep his spirits up.

Voight brought out the board. Another day of catching criminals in Chicago. He sent Hailey with Kevin to check out a lead on a drug smuggler in Bridgeport while he and Rojas went to talk to one of her CIs.

Hailey and Kevin had been waiting and watching outside the guy's girlfriend's house for 2 hours when Voight called. "Hey, we got a name of one of our guy's lieutenants from Rojas CI. Apparently he's got a soft spot for pretty girls, so I want you to walk two blocks south and I'm gonna pick you up and Rojas is gonna take your place. I don't want to take the chance that the lieutenant might have spotted her with our CI. I'll drop you off at the station and you can take Kim with you to this guy's house."

"Got it, Sarge." Hailey hung up. "See ya later, Kev."

Hopping out, she started walking nonchalantly down the street till she met Voight. He took her back to the station and she climbed the steps to where Kim was working on paperwork.

"Hey Burgess, Sarge wants us to -"

Hailey stopped short, her eyes getting wide at what she saw before her. Kim was sitting on Adam's desk, he was standing in front of her, her legs wrapped around his torso, his hands up her shirt and their mouths connected like the fate of the universe depended on that kiss.

"Shit." Kim pulled away and jumped off the desk, straightening her top while Adam re-buckled his belt. He cleared his throat nervously. Kim plastered her best smile on her face and said, "Hey, sorry, we were just..."

Hailey looked at them, eyebrows raised, waiting on the explanation.

Kim was silent for a little. "Yeah, i don't have a good excuse for this." She sighed.

"We were just having a little fun, paperwork can be boring," Adam laughed awkwardly.

Hailey put her hands up. "Whatever you guys do, that's your business. Burgess, Voight wants you to run with me."

They got in the car and started driving in silence. Kim was trying to figure out what to say to Hailey.

Kim began, "Look, I know that was weird. But you get it, right? I mean, you had a thing with Adam... And whatever you've got going on with Jay?"

"There is nothing between me and Jay," she snapped.

Kim looked at her in shock. "Okay, geez, calm down. I just thought after you guys were making out the other day-"

Hailey cut her off. "That was because he got shot. I told you." She said roughly.

Kim let it go, looking out the window as they drove.

Hailey knew she shouldn't have snapped, but her emotions were on edge. When they reached the offender's house, Hailey put the car in park and turned to Kim. "Look. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. I just don't understand how you can not let your emotions affect the rest of the team when you're making out with your co-worker. When I was with Adam, I always wanted to check on him first when things got crazy..." Hailey sighed. "I just don't get it."

"Look." Burgess put her hand on Hailey's. "What you want and what you do are two different things. If it came down to it and Adam and you were in a situation and you were in greater danger, I'd help you, not him. He gets that. He'd do the same. Because we separate our personal life from work. When it is time to work we ALWAYS put the team first."

Hailey nodded. "Except when you're doing boring paperwork."

Kim laughed and shrugged. "Hey, Adam and I have been sleeping together for months, have you noticed an affect on the team?"

Hailey was shocked. "Seriously?!"

Kim smiled proudly. "Mhmm."

Hailey thought for a moment. "I guess it's better than always wondering..."

"Exactly."

Hailey had a lot to think about while they sat there another hour until they saw the guy.

Hopping out of the car, they walked up to him, beaming.

"Excuse me, we locked our keys in our car, could you please please help us?" Hailey begged.

The guy's eyes scanned both of them, a smile slowly creeping onto his face.

"Sure thing, beautiful, lead the way."

They walked to the car, complaining about how forgetful they were, and when the guy stepped to the car door, Hailey slapped cuffs on him. "Chicago PD, you're coming with us."

"AW SHIT NAW." They guy yelled, struggling. Kim and Hailey roughly got him into the car and headed to the station. When they arrived, Voight look the Lieutenant. "Good work, ladies. We're going to have a little chat downstairs." And they disappeared down the steps.

Adam was at his desk, glancing at Hailey and Kim, nervously chewing his fingers. Kim shook her head at him. "Dude, relax." Motioning at Hailey she said, "We're cool."

"Um, really?" Adam questioned, not sounding very sure.

"Mhmm." Hailey agreed.

The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Voight managed to convince the offender they'd nabbed to give them the location of the head drug smuggler in exchange for a one way ticket to Utah. The next day they nabbed him, plus a truck full of oxycodone hidden in the fenders. The rest of the week Hailey threw herself into her work, ignoring texts and calls from Jay. She didn't know what to say to him. Hailey was conflicted between what her heart wanted and what her brain was telling her was the right thing to do.

Friday night she was alone at home watching The Office and drinking a glass of wine when she got a call from Will.

"Hey Hailey, it's Will, it's about Jay."

Hailey sat up, alarmed. "Is everything okay?"

Will sighed. "Yeah, he's fine. He..." She heard someone talking in the background, "He says to tell you he's going to die of boredom if you don't come entertain him."

"Wait. What? So everything is okay with his gunshot wound?"

"Oh yeah, he's fine. He's doing great, actually. But he... Hold on." She heard Will cover up the phone, but she could hear his muffled voice say, "Damn it, Jay, this is so juvenile just call her." Then he was back on with Hailey, clearing his throat he said. "Oh, also could you please answer your phone so I don't have to listen to him complain anymore? I'm about to head to Med and let me tell you, I might ask to extend my night shift so I don't have to come back to this."

She smile into the phone. She missed Jay, too. She missed her best friend. She knew what she had to do.

"Don't worry, Will. I'll take care of it."

Hailey hung up, grabbing her keys she went downstairs to her car. She drove over to Jay's, preparing her speech on the way. Hailey had made up her mind about what kind of relationship they should have. She climbed the stairs, knocking on his door.


	10. Chapter 10

Jay opened the door, his face looked depressed, but when he saw Hailey he lit up.

"Hey."

"Hey," she smiled. "Look, i had this whole speech planned..." She looked down at the floor. "Can I come in?"

Jay stepped back making a little room for her, but her body still brushed his as she stepped into the room. Her breath quickened. Keep cool, she told herself.

"Want a drink?" Jay asked.

"Sure."

"So, fill me in. What's going on at 21?" He looked at her expectantly.

She was confused. Why was he acting like nothing happened? Maybe that's how he wanted to play this?

"Um. Good. We brought down a drug smuggler this week. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know. Staring at the wall. Watching ESPN. Waiting for you to text me back."

She sighed. There it was. "Look, I'm sorry, I just thought maybe after what i told you, you might want some space..."

Jay stepped closer to Hailey, their bodies lightly touching, he leaned down and she felt his lips brush her ear. "After what you told me, having space between us is the farthest from what I want," he whispered.

She gently put her hands on his chest and pushed him away, taking a step back. She took a deep breath.

"Look, man. We've got to talk."

Jay sighed, flopping down on the couch. Here it comes again, he thought. The 'we have to put the team first' bullshit.

Hailey sat next to him.

"Jay, listen. You know relationships within the district are complicated... And even more so within intelligence. There's always the potential of favoritism effecting your judgement or a relationship not working out that creates an awkward atmosphere afterward. It's just more drama on top of a romantic relationship."

Jay looked at the floor. Of course Hailey would put the job first. She was a great cop, he hadn't expected any less from her. Still, a little part of him had hoped.

Hailey continued. "So, if we're going to do this, we have to draw a serious line between our personal life and our work life."

Jay's head snapped up. Did he here that correctly?

"You mean you want to..." He looked at her, hopefully.

She nodded. "I cant spend the rest of my life wondering if I missed out on something incredible." She said softly, not meeting his gaze.

He gently brought his hand to her cheek, and turned her face to his. "I want this, Hailey. I want you." He told her, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"I want you too, Jay." She whispered, and their lips met. Jay leaned back into the couch, pulling her on top of him, their kiss deepening. His hands ran up her sides, slipping under her shirt, but she stopped him. Pulling away, she placed her forehead against his intimately. "I want to do this right." She told him. Jay wrapped his arms around Hailey and just held her for a long time, neither of them speaking.

Finally, Jay broke the silence.

"Hailey?"

"Mhmm?"

"I'm all in."

She picked her head up off his chest and gave him the biggest smile, then dropped a quick kiss on his lips. "I know."

She got up off the couch, gathering her things. "I've got to go, I'll stop by tomorrow." She promised.

"I can't wait." He said sincerely.

Hailey drove home feeling giddy with excitement. Her heart was finally in the right place. But now how was she going to handle this in the workplace?

The next afternoon Jay was sitting around his apartment hoping Hailey would show up when his phone buzzed. Grabbing it, he saw it was a text from her.

'Sry, can't make it today. Triple homicide, West End. Voight wants us working overtime."

Jay groaned. Of course. And he was sitting at home being useless.

Meanwhile, Hailey had just arrived at the crime scene.

"Victim's are the family of Assistant District Attorney Stanfield." Voight told her grimly.

Hailey sighed. The wife, mother and son of the ADA had been killed in cold blood. There was going to be a lot of long nights to catch this guy.

Days passed, Hailey managed to text Jay, trying to keep him updated. On Thursday, she walked up the stairs to her desk at noon after another dead end in finding the Stanfield family's killer.

And sitting at his desk, engrossed in a stack of paperwork, was Jay Halstead.

Hailey smiled. "Hey, you're not supposed to be back till Monday."

Jay looked up. "Hail, i gotta do something. I'm going crazy in my apartment... All by myself..."

She looked around, noting no one else was in the room, and walked over to him.

She sat down on the desk, leaning in close to him she whispered, "I missed you."

His face broke out into a grin, and he slid his hand up her thigh.

"Halstead?"

Hailey jumped off the desk, spinning around to see Adam looking confused. If he had noticed Jay's hands on her he hid it well.

"I thought you weren't back till Monday, man?" Ruzek said as the rest of the team filed up the stairs.

"Well, i figured I could at least use my eyes to help you catch this bastard." Jay said, holding up his stack of papers. "And I got something."

Holding up a paper, he turned to the team. "First I was looking at all the recorded death threats against Stanfield, specifically calls to his office. Now, this number called him 30 times last month, but never left a message. Always at 8:09pm. Every day."

Halstead walked back to his desk, picking up another paper. "Now, I've been looking into details of Stanfield's recent cases, and 2 months ago a mob boss he put away was sentenced to death by injection and his time of death was..." Jay looked at the group expectantly.

"8:09pm?" Voight asked.

"You got it." Jay smiled. "Now, I've been looking into that mob boss, Alejandro Guerra, and he's still got a brother on the outside. Here's his address," Jay said, handing a paper to Voight.

Voight clasped him on the back. "Good to have you back, Halstead."

Jay's day of digging through paperwork paid off. The brother had hired a hit man to kill the ADA's family as revenge for Alejandro.

"He took my family from me, so I took his from him," Salvador Guerra spat at Voight during interogation.

"Well, I have a feeling you'll see your brother again soon," Voight said with a smirk.

Hailey went home, exhausted after the long week. She dropped down onto the couch and ordered Chinese food. When she heard

a knock, she grabbed her wallet and opened the door, and there was Jay holding her takeout.

"Geez, Halstead. Been off of work so long you had to get a side job?" She questioned, motioning to the bag he held.

"Nah, i noticed the extra egg rolls when I followed the guy in and figured it was yours," he stepped closer to her in the doorway, leaning in. "I'm a very good detective, actually." He said with a smile.

He followed her into the apartment, sitting at the island.

"Well, if I'd known you were coming I could've ordered you something," she laughed.

"Aren't the extra egg rolls for me?" He said mischievously.

She passed him some egg rolls.

"That was some good detective work you did today," she told him.

He nodded. "I just had to get out of that house... All I kept thinking about was how I'd rather be where you are."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Aw, how sweet. What do you want?"

"What! I was being sincere!" He laughed, acting offended.

"Oh c'mon, Halstead. That sounds like a cheesy line. 'I'd rather be where you are.' You should've waited to use that till now," she said, jumping of her stool and walking to the bathroom, "when I say I'm going to take a shower." She turned at the door, winking at him before entering the bathroom and closing the door.

Did she just invite him to take a shower with her? Jay jumped up, kicking off his shoes. He pulled his shirt over his head as he walked down the hallway, standing outside the door he heard the shower running. Putting his hand on the knob he turned it -

The door was locked.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Jay said loudly.

Hailey's laugh came from the other side of the door. "You should've waited to use your line..."

Jay put his shirt back on and sat on the couch, waiting patiently. Finally, Hailey emerged, her hair wrapped in a towel, wearing a large hoodie and sweatpants.

Jay looked at her outfit. "Sexy." He joked.

She sat down across from him.

"Look, Jay. I like you a lot. I want this to work... And I don't think we should rush into anything physical."

He nodded. Putting on a frown he said, "so no sleepovers?"

Hailey smiled gently. "We can have a sleepover... Clothing mandatory."

Jay sighed. "Fine, but I'm under protest," he said, acting upset, but Hailey saw the twinkle in his eye.

As Jay followed her back to her bedroom he said, "so how long we talking? 2 weeks? 2 months?"

"The more you ask the longer it's going to be." She said, crawling into bed next to him, she settled her head against the fabric that covered his chest.

"Night, Jay."

"Goodnight, beautiful."


	11. Chapter 11

The next week, Jay officially was on duty again. He and Hailey were driving into work Monday morning after he spent the night at her house.

"So, how are we going to play this with the team?" Jay asked.

"Let's keep it to ourselves." Turning to him with a stern look but a twinkle in her eyes she said, "so no funny business, lover boy."

Jay laughed. As he got out of his truck he put his hands up defensively. "I'm always behaved," he snickered.

Hailey grinned at him and winked, "I hope not!"

Jay smiled, leaning down to kiss her...

"Hey guys!" Said Vanessa as she got out of her car.

"Hey!" Said Jay, a little too loudly.

Vanessa raised her eyebrows and Hailey shrugged, walking in the door she said to Rojas, "Somebody is a little excited to be back." They laughed at Jay's expense and the two women headed upstairs.

"Halstead. Welcome back." Sargeant Platt nodded at him, holding out a stack of papers. "Here's your short term disability forms... Although your benefits are waived if you work during the disability period, so here's a Volunteering of Services form for your time here last Thursday." She said matter of factly.

"Uh. Happy to... Volunteer, Sarge." He smiled, taking the papers and joining the rest of the team upstairs.

The team was already standing around the board when he walked in.

"Halstead. Good to have you back," Voight said. "Alright, let's get to it." Turning he pointed to a picture on the board. "This is Lesster Mahoney, 48, Attwater's got a CI who said Mahoney is running cocaine through his boat shop down at the docks. Patrol's been sitting on the shop all day with no activity." He turned, looking at the group. "Kevin's CI says this guy's got a dog he likes to walk in a park in Oakland, let's check it out."

The Intelligence Unit packed up their gear, heading out to the park. Burgess sat on a bench reading a book, Kevin and Adam pretended to be checking something out under the hood of their car. Rojas starting jogging around the park. Jay grabbed Hailey's hand. "No better time then now to pretend to be a couple," he smirked.

They walked hand in hand around the park. "I could get used to this," Jay said, smiling down at her. "If only I could kiss you right now..."

"Anyone have eyes on Mahoney?" Voight's voice rang out in Jay's ear and he jumped.

Hailey looked at him, a serious expression on her face. "Jay, we agreed work and personal life is separate. I need you to focus."

"Right." He said, ashamed. Damn, but she was so beautiful. Thinking about her, touching her, kissing her. It was distracting. She was like a drug to him, and he wanted more.

Shaking his head to snap himself back to reality, Jay's eyes scanned the crowd. He watched a pitbull mix catch a tennis ball, running back to its owner...

"We got him, southeast corner by the fountain." Jay said into his phone as he watched Mahoney take the tennis ball from the dog.

Jay and Hailey split up, flanking Mahoney on both sides.

"Lesster Mahoney? Chicago PD, you're going to have to come with us."

He threw the ball at Jay and took off, running west. "Offender is fleeing west towards the bridge..." Said Hailey into her phone, pursuing.

Meanwhile the dog had followed the tennis ball and Jay was trying to get himself untangled from the friendly pup. He heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction Hailey had gone.

"HAILEY!" He shouted.

"Shots fired at police, offender is armed, fleeing northwest towards the pond, plain clothes officers in pursuit," Jay heard Hailey's voice on the radio.

Jay took off, cutting around the other side of the park, hoping the short cut would give him an advantage.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Adam were at the bridge. Jay could see them closing in, but not close enough to help when the offender suddenly turned, tackling Hailey to the ground, his fists hitting her body. He jumped back up, as Hailey lay on the ground groaning in pain. Jay reached her, "you good?" He asked.

"Yeah, get him!"

Jay took off, even though in his heart he wanted to stay with her. Anger fueled him as he chased the perpatrator, slowly advancing on him until he was close enough to take him down. Jay pinned him to the ground, "you like beating up women?" Jay spat at the man.

Kevin and Adam arrived, out of breath, as Jay was putting cuffs on.

"Well take him, go check on your partner." Kevin told Jay.

He jogged back to were Hailey was now sitting up, holding her ribs. Burgess was by her side already.

"Geez, Hail. You alright?" He asked, tenderly putting his arm around her shoulder. The move did not go unnoticed by Burgess, who raised her eyebrows and gave Hailey a knowing look.

Hailey cleared her throat. "Yeah, all good, partner." She said, emphasizing the last word.

Jay pulled away from Hailey. Acting like nothing was going on between them was proving more difficult than he had expected.

Burgess stood up. "I'd better go check on... witnesses." She said, walking off.

"I should've stopped to help you after he hurt you." Jay lamented.

"Then he wouldn't be in custody." Hailey responded. "This is the job, Jay." She looked him in the eye. "Look, i want to do this... This thing with you and me. But I will not sacrifice my integrity as a police officer."

Jay nodded. "I know. I get that. I'll do better."

Hailey held out her hand and he pulled her up as Voight walked over. "I'm gonna drop you off at Med to get checked out, alright?"

Hailey nodded. "Yes sir."

As she followed Voight, she turned and said in a low voice to Jay, "I might need another check up later?" A small smile spread on her face.

Jay laughed. "Count on it."


	12. Chapter 12

Later that evening Jay knocked on Hailey's door. When she opened it he joked, "Dr. Halstead reporting for duty!"

Hailey pretended to look around him. "Where's Will?"

"Ehem. Dr. JAY Halstead." He said sheepishly.

Hailey laughed, but the movement in her abdominal muscles caused her to wince in pain. Concern flooded Jay's face. "Hail, you should sit."

"I'm fine, mom." She rolled her eyes at him. "It's just some bruises."

Still, he helped her over to the couch and she sat down gently. Jay held up the bag in his hand.

"Shall we see what I brought in my medical bag?"

Opening the bag, he started pulling out Chinese food containers.

"You really know how to cure a girl, doc." She said with a smile.

She turned on the TV and they ate quietly. Jay finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry I failed you today."

"What?" She was shocked. "What are you talking about?"

"I let my emotions get the best of me -"

She cut him off. "Jay. You were like that before we started... This. You always care more about others then you do yourself. That's one of the things that makes you so attractive." She said slyly, playfully pushing his shoulder.

He didn't laugh. He looked at her somberly saying, "I'm just worried I'm gonna do the wrong thing and you're going to think this was a mistake."

"Jay. This... Us... It's something real. I'm not gonna run at the first sign of trouble. You know I've always got your back. Professionally and... recreationally." She said, sliding across the couch and into his lap.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body close to his and burying his face in her sweet smelling hair. "It's just so easy for me to let my guard down around you... I'm never this vulnerable." He said honestly.

"I know. But, high risk, high reward, right?" She told him. Shit, she was starting to sound like Burgess.

He smiled, pulling her face to his. "You're definitely a good reward," he whispered, and silenced her response with a kiss.

The days went by, Hailey and Jay fell into a new routine. Most nights were spent together at one of their apartments, talking and kissing. Jay was doing better at keeping their personal life seperate at work, but that didn't stop him on a slow day from pulling Hailey into a supply closet for a quick make out session. Jay was happier then he'd been in a long time. Even then when he was with Erin. Hailey understood him in a way no one else did, and he was falling hard.

One day, Hailey and Kim were grabbing lunch for the team, when the inevitable happened.

"So how are things with Halstead?" Kim asked.

"Um, he's a great partner, we're really working great together." Hailey said smoothly.

Kim gave a knowing smile. "Right, like I don't see his puppy dog eyes following you every time you leave the room..."

"What are you talking about?"

Kim snorted. "You know, you're lucky you're such a good cop, cause you'd be a terrible actor." She laughed. "C'mon, I know. Don't worry, i don't think anyone else does. The guys are oblivious and Vanessa is new so I'm pretty sure she just thinks this is normal behavior for you and Jay."

Hailey shrugged. "Fine. It's new, we're taking things slow."

As they walked back to the car and opened their doors, Burgess grinned mischievously, "taking things slow? That doesnt sound very fun," she joked.

"All units, we've got a woman in distress at fifth and Davis, please respond." Squawked the radio in their car.

"Thats right down the block," Kim said, grabbing the radio. "Ten one, plain clothes officers responding."

Pulling up down the block, they saw a woman wandering around in the middle of the street.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Hailey asked, gently touching her arm.

The girl opened her mouth as if to speak... Then vomited down the front of Hailey's shirt.

Hailey stood there, mouth open in shock. Kim's eyes were wide as she called for an ambulance. The young woman collapsed to the ground and started convulsing. Hailey crouched next to her, "looks like she's overdosing. Stay with me, honey." She said to the woman as she held her head to keep her from hitting the pavement.

When the ambulance rolled up, Brett and Foster hopped out. Foster took a look at Hailey and laughed, "Girl, you've looked better."

Hailey glared at her. "Do you guys have towels or something?" She asked Brett.

"Sure," Brett gave her some towels and Hailey cleaned up as best as she could.

Once the woman was on her way to Med, Hailey and Kim headed back to the district.

"No offense, but I'm gonna hang my head out the window," Kim said, stifling a laugh.

"Please tell me you have some clothes i can borrow..." Hailey begged.

"I've got a pair of jeans, you're going to have to roll them up a bit." Burgess said. Obviously there was a distinct height difference between the women.

Back at the district, Jay was heading to the locker room to get his wallet when he rounded the corner to see Hailey standing there in a towel.

"Hot damn. Is this a dream?" He said excitedly.

"Do you get barfed on in your dreams? Cause unfortunately, that's my reality." Hailey said. "Got a shirt i can borrow?"

Jay pulled an extra tee out of his locker, holding it just out of her reach. "I mean, I could give this to you, but I'd much prefer if you weren't wearing it," he said suggestively.

Hailey stepped closer, her chest millimeters from his. Looking up at Jay she said, "or I could drop this towel right here and we could have some fun in the locker room."

Jay swallowed hard. "Really?" He stuttered.

Hailey snatched the shirt from his hand. "Nope!" She giggled, disappearing behind her locker.

"Oh c'mon, that was not fair." Jay grumbled.

"I'll make it up to you. I promise." She said, running her hand across his chest as she left the room.

Jay groaned. "The things you do to me," he said, shaking his head as Hailey laughed down the hallway.

When she was back at her desk, Voight walked by. Taking in her oversized outfit he looked at her quizzically. "Do I want to know?"

Kim piped up. "There was a lot of vomit, Sarge."

Voight wrinkled his nose. "I don't want to know."

The team laughed at Hailey's expense as she tried to tuck the too big shirt into Kim's borrowed pants.

Later that night, Jay drove them back to Hailey's apartment. Standing behind her as she unlocked her apartment, Jay said, "you know, that's my favorite shirt, I'm going to want it back."

Hailey entered the apartment, turning seductively she said sweetly, "you'll have to take it by force..."

Jay almost tripped over his own feet, rushing into the apartment ad quickly shutting the door behind him.


	13. Chapter 13

Jay quickly followed Hailey into her dimly lit apartment, shedding his jacket. She was already in the kitchen, pouring them both drinks. Jay moved to stand behind her, pressing his body into hers. She leaned back into him as he bent down, kissing her neck. She turned, handed him his drink, and walked to the couch.

"How's your side?" She asked him.

He lifted his shirt, showing the healing wound on his side. "Getting better." He moved to the couch, sitting next to her. "Would you like to examine me, doctor?" He said, smiling.

A grin stretched across Hailey's face as she closed the distance between them. Turning to face him, she straddled his lap, putting her arms around his shoulders. "I think you're looking pretty good, Detective." She whispered, kissing his lips and running her hands down his chest.

Jay kissed her hard, sliding his hands up her thighs to her hips. "When do I get my shirt back?" He said in a husky voice, his heart beating excitedly.

"You're going to have to take it." She said quietly, trailing kisses down his neck.

Jay didn't need to be told twice, he slipped the shirt up over her head. She helped him pull his off too, and he shuddered with excitement as he took in the view of her in a cute lacey red bra, her blonde hair spilling over her bare shoulders. Their kisses deepened, their hands exploring each other's bodies. Jay shifted Hailey's body under him on the couch, his hand going for the button on her jeans. Hailey kissed him hard, encouraging Jay to keep going.

And then his phone rang.

"No. No no no." He said, groaning into her shoulder. "I'm ignoring that."

Then her phone rang.

"Jay..."

"No."

"Jay, its probably Voight."

Jay very reluctantly rolled off the couch, checking his phone. Sure enough, a missed call and text from Voight awaited him. Two officers on patrol had been shot by gang members and Intelligence was taking the case.

"We gotta go."

Jay sighed heavily, grabbing his shirt off the floor and straightening his pants. He went to the bathroom, splashing some cold water on his face.

Returning to the living room he said, "Don't think we're not going to continue this later... I'm going to have a hard time getting the image of you in that bra -"

Jay looked up to see Hailey holding her finger to her lips, her eyes wide, her phone at her ear. Turning she said into the phone, "Yes, Sarge. I'll get Jay and check it out."

Hailey hung up the phone.

"Let's hope he didn't hear that..." Hailey said, shaking her head. "Let's go, Voight wants us to go to the district and do a search for red mustangs, partial plates JX2."

Jay sighed. "Let's go to work. But we're going to continue this... examination later," he grinned, following her out the door.

"Maybe we can continue it in my bedroom." She said, smiling over her shoulder.

Jay stopped in the hallway, grabbing her arm. "What about taking things slow?" He questioned.

"Well, someone told me that's not very fun..." She laughed.

Jay groaned. "You want to keep our relationship under wraps, but you're making it damn hard."

Hailey gave him a wicked grin. "The things you do to me..." She parroted his words from earlier that day.

Jay closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before he followed her outside. This girl was making it very hard to focus on anything else...

When they arrived at District 21, Ruzek and Burgess also pulled into the parking lot, getting out of Adam's car. Hailey raised her eyebrows at Kim. It was 11pm, and she was showing up with Ruzek? And, Hailey noted, in the same clothes she'd been wearing earlier that day. As they walked into the building, Kim pulled Hailey back.

"I noticed that look." Kim said.

"I noticed you wore those clothes earlier today." Hailey teased.

"Funny, Jay hasn't changed either." Kim countered.

Hailey smiled. "Just having a little fun, right?"

Kim laughed knowingly. "And isn't it so much more fun to know instead of all that wondering?"

Well she wasn't wrong about that, Hailey thought. She didn't have any regrets so far.

The team got to work right away. There were two red mustangs with JX2 in the license plate. One was owned by a 37 year old father of two who lived on the North side, and the other was owned by a cousin of a flagged G Park Lord's gang member.

Voight ordered Burgess, Ruzek, Halstead and Upton to roll on the cousins house. Upon arrival, they snuck up to the front door, prepared to breech. As Adam reached for the door handle, a blast knocked him backwards.

"ADAM!" Kim screamed, dragging him away from the door. Jay hooked his arm under one of Adam's and helped get him to cover as gunfire erupted out the front door.

Hailey dove behind a car on the other side of the property, firing blind shots into the house to try to district the shooter as Kim and Jay got Adam to safety. This resulted in the fire being directed towards her.

"Hail, you okay?!" Jay shouted.

"I'm good, but I'm pinned!" She yelled back, then she called in the situation on her radio.

Meanwhile, Kim was checking Adam's wounds. "Adam, talk to me." She said urgently.

"I'm good... Hit my... Vest." He mumbled, although blood was dripping from cuts on his face, Kim didn't see any sign of gunshot wounds on his body. Adam grabbed Kim's hand, fixating an intense gaze on her face he said gruffly, "Get this son of a bitch, baby."

She nodded, turning back to Jay. "Cover me, I'm going to advance on the door." Jay nodded, pulling his semi-automatic weapon off of his back, he started firing rounds into the house. Hailey saw Kim advancing and followed behind her, until they were both back on the porch. The gunfire from within the house had ceased, and the women silently started moving into the rooms. Tires squealed out the back, and they ran out in time to see the red mustang racing away.

"Shit." Kim called in on her radio, "Offender is fleeing west bound on 96th Street, all available units respond, Red Mustang, should be considered armed and dangerous."

Jay and Hailey were already in his truck, "You got him?" Hailey yelled at Kim, pointing at Adam.

"Yeah, go!"

Jay's truck raced west after the fleeing vehicle, as Kim helped Adam to his car. "Kim, you should take the car, leave me here," Adam groaned.

She shook her head. "I'm not leaving you behind at the potential cop killers house. C'mon, I could use your eyes, at least." She helped him get into the car and they also took off in the direction the mustang had gone.

Jay and Hailey were scanning side streets as they drove, hoping to catch a glimpse of the car, but knowing it was most likely in the wind. Still, Hailey turned up the radio chatter to see if any other units spotted their suspect.

Jay sighed. "Man, a couple hours ago I would've said my night was going a completely different direction." He grumbled, giving her half a grin. She flashed a wide grin at him.

"All units, red Mustang spotted going South on 57" the radio squawked. Jay quickly maneuvered around a car, changing course to try to intercept the Mustang. They raced up the on ramp, tearing down the shoulder of the highway, they could see another set of blue lights in the distance. "Suspect is armed, shots fired at police" they heard on the radio, a faint popping heard in the background.

Jay's truck started closing in. They could see someone in the passengers seat of the Mustang was wildly firing rounds out the window, hitting both civilian commuter's vehicles and the two patrol cars following them. Another patrol car was on the side of the road, the front tires flat. Jay's truck passed them, nearing the back end of the vehicle. The guns turned on them, ricochetting off the hood of the truck and shattering the windshield. "JAY, back off!" Hailey shouted, ducking her head.

He pulled back, the gunmen returning their fire to the patrol cars, as Hailey kicked out their useless windshield. "Hold it steady, I got this." She instructed him. Jay did his best to keep the truck straight and steady at 80 miles an hour, and Hailey leaned half of her body out the windshield, a semi-automatic rifle in hand. Jay wrapped his hand around her thigh, steadying her as she expertly aimed for the tires.

Her first few shots hit the pavement, but the next set met the mark and before the offenders realized what was happening, they swerved, careening down the small embankment on the side of the highway. The Chicago Police Officers that had been following them surrounded the car, weapons drawn.

"Get your hands up and get out of the car!" Hailey shouted. Two men climbed out of the wreckage, pulling a third, unconscious man. Cuffs were on the responsive men and they were in the back of a patrol car when Kim and Adam pulled up.

"Hey, you guys missed all the fun," Jay joked.

Adam pointed at his ribs, "I've had enough fun for one day." He said with a pained expression.

Kim motioned to Jay's truck. "You know, your truck doesn't look like it had so much fun..."

Jay turned, taking in the sight of the busted windshield and bullet holes covering the hood. He groaned, walking over and running his hand down the side. "I'm sorry, baby" he muttered.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Jay. It's just a truck. We could've died, and you're worried about the truck?"

He suddenly got very serious. "Yeah. We could've died." Wrapping his arms around Hailey he continued, "I'm glad you're okay."

Hailey leaned into him, enjoying the contact, before she realized where the were. Sh quickly stepped away, glancing at Kim and Adam.

Adam nudged Kim's arm. "Hey, look." He motioned to Jay and Hailey, "I think you were right about them."

"You told him?" Hailey asked Kim.

Kim shrugged. "Sorry, he wanted to know if something was going on

... And he has a way of getting what he wants," she said with a mischievous smile.

Jay wrinkled his nose. "Okay, ew. Definitely don't need to know about that."

Adam winked at him. "These Intelligence girls are hard to resist, right, brother?"

Hailey rolled her eyes. "Okay, can we please get back to the job?" And so they did, and with perfect timing, because Voight rolled up minutes later.

Later that night, or actually, early the next morning, Jay and Hailey finally stumbled back into her apartment. Hailey groaned, "I'm so tired..." She kicked off her shoes and started walking to her bedroom.

Jay frowned. "Guess we're not gonna continue where we left off."

She turned, noting his sad expression, she walked over, wrapping her arms around him. "Hey, thanks. For being you. I'm glad you've got my back."

He nodded. "Always."

She gave him a slow, soft kiss, feeling the restraint in his body to not make it into something deeper. She could tell he wanted more of her. Dropping her hands, she started walking back the hallway. "I'm taking a shower. You stink, you're going to need one too." She told him, walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

Jay stood there for a few moments. Was that an invitation? He slowly walked down the hall, remembering how the last time he had tried this, he struck out. He put his hand on the door knob of the bathroom, hearing the sounds of the shower on the other side, he tried to twist the knob.

It was unlocked.


	14. Chapter 14

Jay turned the door handle, entering the already steamy bathroom. Hailey's clothes were laying on the floor in a path to the shower, her lacey red bra draped over the sink. He suddenly felt very nervous. He could hold a sniper rifle steady in pouring rain and gusting winds to make a 100 yard shot, but right now his hands were shaking like he had never experienced before. He quickly and silently stripped off his clothes, stepping up to the shower curtain he paused. Should he announce his presence? Ask for permission? Just jump in?

"You just gonna stand out there all night?" Her voice beckoned from behind the curtain.

Jay blushed, taking a deep breath, he stepped into the warm shower. Her beaming face greeted him, and she stepped closer to him with dripping hair. He stammered a quiet, "hey" trying to not be too obvious as his eyes scanned down her body.

Jay let out a soft moan. Damn, she was perfect. And then her naked body was pressed against his own, warm water falling over their shoulders as she pulled his lips to hers. Her hands ran down his bare chest, his hands slid over her hips, settling low on her back. He trailed kisses down her neck and she sighed, prompting him lower. They continued to explore each other's bodies until she asked him quietly, "my room?"

She didn't have to ask him twice. After a quick dry with a towel, he scooped her up in his arms, carrying her to the bed. She kissed him, more urgently this time, as he pulled her on top of him, caressing her arms. "Do you want to do this?" He whispered, as her kisses moved down his abdomen. She looked at him and gave a small nod, and he flipped her under him, his gaze inches from her own. "I do." She replied, confidently. Jay smiled. He forgot what it was like to be so happy with someone.

"Hail?"

"Mhmm?" She mumbled as she stroked his chest.

"I think I love you." He said in a husky voice.

"I know." She smiled up at him, pulling his body against her. Nothing had ever felt so right to them, and they were lost in each other, forgetting the stresses of the job and the horrors they had seen, they finally focused on just this one, good thing.

The next morning Jay peeked his eyes open, elated to see the sleeping blonde beauty beside him. That was definitely not just a dream, he thought. He slowly pulled his arm out from under her body, pulling on his pants he headed out to the kitchen and started making breakfast. He was busy scrambling eggs when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, I was afraid you left."

He turned, smiling at the sight of her in just his t-shirt. "Not without refueling first. I worked up an appetite last night," he teased.

She laughed, sliding onto a barstool at the island. Taking in the sight of a shirtless Jay in the kitchen she commented, "I could get used to the view."

He grinned at her, turning back to the stove he said, "I think we can come up with some type of arrangement."

She hopped off her stool, moving behind him she slid her hands over his bare abs, resting them at his waistband. "Maybe you could do without these pants too..."

He looked at her, very serious. "While cooking? That's not a risk I'm willing to take, but I like where you're going," he said with a smile.

He dished up breakfast, and they ate quietly. Jay glanced at his phone. "We'd better soon get ready."

Hailey put their plates in the sink, strolling back to the bedroom she called, "I think we've got some time to kill..." She winked at him before turning the corner to her room.

Jay glanced at his phone again. What the hell. He rushed back to the bedroom, unbuttoning his pants on the way.

"Where the hell are Halstead and Upton?" Voight said angrily to the rest of the Intelligence team. They were 30 minutes late, and hadn't informed anyone of their absence. The unit had odd hours, it was common for people to always be coming and going, but not without checking in first. It made Voight worried.

"Here Sarge, sorry." Hailey and Jay were jogging up the stairs. "We stopped to check on one of my CIs and got to talking," Hailey explained.

Hank sighed. "Okay, well next time, let me know." He turned, addressing the team. "Alright, we've got a random video -" he looked around again. "Now where the hell did Burgess go?"

"Bathroom." Adam piped up.

"Sorry, sorry," Kim came hurrying down the hallway.

Voight looked around at his team, a annoyed look flashed across his face. "Are we all ready to work now?"

There was the nodding of heads and some mumbled "yeahs."

"Okay, good." He turned back to the board. "Ransom video came in, Teddy Stewart's daughter was kidnapped. You all know Teddy from the Friends in Uniform banquet a few weeks ago. He's a millionaire tech guy, big supporter of CPD cracking down on gangs and the opioid crisis, and very vocal about it." He pointed at a picture of a young girl. "His daughter Felicity was taken from their home overnight. She's 12 years old, kidnappers are demanding five million by noon. Ivory tower wants this to be everyone's first priority, so I'd appreciate it..." He turned, looking at them sternly, "if you all could focus."

They nodded as Voight continued through details. The exchange of the five million was supposed to happen at noon at the front of the Garfield Park Conservatory. Stewart had fronted the five million, but the CPD had no intention of letting it leave the park. They would grab the perps and save the girl.

"Sarge, you know the chances of them actually bringing the girl are slim, they probably have her stashed at a secondary location," Kim said.

Hank nodded. "This isn't my plan. This is from the top. Trust me, I argued it, but they insist it'll preserve the most life so..." He shrugged.

"So we're just extra hands on this?" Jay asked.

"Yeah."

The team prepped and loaded up their gear, joining the rest of CPD's elite at a meeting spot a half mile from the drop. Superintendent Crawford was their, addressing the plan for the group. The money was to be dropped at the gate, then Stewart would go to the entrance of Lincoln Park across town to pick up his daughter. Officers were stationed at both locations.

Glancing at her watch, Hailey saw it was 11:30. They were finishing prepping Stewart, and he was getting in a van to drive over to the park. The Intelligence team was ready to move to their positions for the drop, when Hailey noticed a little girl down the block running towards the group of CPD'S finest.

"Sarge, isn't that the girl?!" Hailey asked, confused. The team turned, and Hailey rushed towards the little girl, her team started to follow, but the other CPD members were still focused on moving towards the park.

Hailey reached the girl first, and the breathless child told her urgently, "It's... It's a set up."

And that's when the bomb went off.


	15. Chapter 15

Hailey's ears were ringing as she straightened up to survey the damage around her. She had instinctively curled her body around the girl when the blast went off, and she quickly scanned both of their bodies for any signs of damage.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked Felicity.

"I'm... I'm okay. Where's my dad? It was all a set up against the police!" The little girl cried.

Hailey shook her head, looking behind her at the devestation. Keying in her radio she said, "this is Detective Hailey Upton from Intelligence, I have multiple casualties and wounded a half mile west of Garfield Park, please send available units. We're gonna need ambos."

Hailey noticed Jay was helping Vanessa put a tourniquet around her leg. A piece of shrapnel had cut open her lower thigh. Kevin was trying to wake up an unconscious Adam. She saw Voight running towards where the blast originated, shouting into his radio. She led Felicity over to Jay and Vanessa. Rojas was unable to put weight on her injured leg, but was responsive and clear-headed, so Hailey left the girl with her.

Adam was sitting up, groggy. "Where's Kim? WHERE'S KIM!?" he shouted frantically.

She was crumpled against a car parked on the street, she had been the closest member of the team to the blast. Blood was running down the side of her face, and she was unresponsive. Hailey touched her gently, speaking firmly and clearly. "Kim? Do you hear me?"

Adam saw her, rushing over. "Baby, hey, can you hear me?" He shook his head, his frantic eyes meeting Hailey's. "What the hell happened?"

Hailey looked around. "I... I think it was a set up. Get all the CPD elite together and..." She motioned around her.

Kim stirred, opening her eyes slowly. "Adam? What happened?" She tried to sit up, wincing with the effort. Suddenly, her face fell and alarm flooded her. "Adam, the baby!" She exclaimed, touching her abdomen protectively.

Adam kissed her head. "We're gonna get you checked out, babe." He glanced at Hailey's confused face and sighed. "She's pregnant," he admitted, his voice shaking.

Hailey raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. She just nodded, and left them to help others. Jay met her as she headed towards the chaos. "You okay?" He asked, touching her arm.

"Yeah, I'm good." She hesitated before adding, "I love you too, Jay."

Realization hit him, and he firmly took her hands, turning her to face him directly. "We're going home tonight, Hailey, you can tell me that later."

She nodded, but she wasn't convinced. She took a deep breath and they followed Voight, Kevin close behind them.

They saw Hank trying to open the door of the van, one side was crumpled. "Can anyone hear me in there?!" He shouted.

Jay helped him wrench open the passenger door, and Hailey was small enough to squeeze in. She felt the driver's neck, there was a pulse. Teddy Stewart was behind the driver, slumped against the window.

"He's alive..." A weak voice told he from the back of the van. Superintendent Crawford was in the van, blood down one side of his face and he was holding his right arm. "Jenson and Andrews are alive but in bad shape." He motioned to the other police officers in the van. "My leg is pinned."

"We've got ambos and Fire headed this way," she assured him. She could already hear sirens.

"What the hell happened?" Crawford stammered.

Hailey glanced at Voight, reading in his face the same thoughts that were running through her head. Someone had targeted the Chicago Police Department by using one of their top supporters as bait.

Voight took charge. "Let's help get these people to a hospital, then we're going after this son of a bitch," he said firmly.

Closest to the blast zone the wounded were scattered. Hailey saw paramedics running towards her from Ambulance 61. For once, Hailey was glad to see Emily Foster.

"We've got five injured in this van, squad is probably gonna need some jaws to rip them out." Hailey told Brett, who nodded and replied "they're right behind us."

Sure enough, the Chicago Fire Department was rolling in, ready to take over the scene. Emily asked Hailey, "do you need us to check you out?" A look of genuine concern on her face.

Hailey shook her head. "Nah, I was farthest from the blast, I'm good." She touched Foster's arm and gave a small smile, heading back to check on the injured Intelligence members while Voight, Jay and Kevin helped move others.

Paramedics we're loading Kim into an ambulance, Adam was at her side, his brow furrowed with concern. He glanced at Hailey as she approached, and she saw the conflict in his face.

"Go with Burgess," Hailey encouraged. "We'll be fine here, it'll be a while till this is cleaned up and we can investigate," she assured him. "I'll see ya later," she patted his shoulder.

Adam swallowed hard, nodding. Hailey saw the tears brimming in his eyes as he turned away, climbing into the back of the ambulance.

She watched them drive away and sighed. However long they'd been hiding this secret about Kim could cost them, Hailey thought. She turned and glanced at Jay down the street as he helped a limping man. How much was she willing to risk for this job?

She shook her head, coming back to reality and turning to Vanessa and the little girl. Felicity was leaning into Vanessa's embrace, sobbing as Rojas stroked her hair.

"Hey Felicity," Hailey squatted down to eye level, putting her hand on the girls shoulder. "I saw your dad, he's going to have to go to the hospital to get checked out, but we can meet him there."

Felicity nodded, Hailey helped Vanessa up. She called Jay, " Hey, can I take Rojas to the hospital in your truck?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll ride with Voight. We want to talk to those closest to the blast when they wake up. We'll be right behind you."

"Okay..." She hesitated, she wanted to say more to him.

Jay sensed her hesitation. "Hail? I'm here. We're okay. And I love you."

"Yeah..." She glanced at Rojas, watching her. "See ya soon."

She helped Rojas down the alley to where Jay's truck was parked, thankfully it had been far enough away to be unharmed. She got in the driver's seat, breathing in the familiar scent of him, wanting so badly to just be wrapped in his arms in bed, waking up to realize this was all just a dream. She drove quickly to Med, where she got Vanessa into a chair in the waiting room. Vanessa was adamant that she be seen after everyone else was taken care of, but Hailey still asked Maggie to check up on her soon. Meanwhile, Hailey got the room number of Mr. Stewart and led Felicity there.

Opening the door, the man was propped in his bed, covered in cuts and bruises, but looked relatively well. His eyes lit up when his daughter entered and they clung to each other.

"What is going on? How did you find Fee?" He was baffled.

"Mr. Stewart, it appears that the kidnappers weren't in this for the money, it was a strategic attack on the CPD using one of our top supporters."

His face fell. "What? How could that be possible?"

"Is there anyone who has a beef against you? Anyone who has worked for you recently that might have a grudge? Who would know about your connections within the CPD?" Hailey questioned.

Stewart shook his head. "I've got enemies for sure, but someone capable of this?" He pulled out his phone, telling Hailey, "I'll call my secretary, you have full access to all my files."

Hailey thanked him, urging him to get some rest. She knew this was definitely not their last conversation. She left his room and walked down the hall to the nurses station.

"Could you tell me where Officer Kim Burgess is?"

The nurse pointed down a hall, "Room 12."

Hailey knocked lightly on the door, then entered. Kim was laying in bed, staring out the window, and Adam was next to her, holding her hand, his leg nervously twitching.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Hailey asked gently.

Kim sighed. "I'm fine. We're waiting on some test results... I'm 22 weeks pregnant, Hailey."

Hailey tried not to look too shocked. It was early Spring in Chicago, still plenty cold enough to hide a baby bump under layers. But she was a detective. Had she really been that blind? Recently though, she had been distracted.

"Wow. Okay, so is the baby okay?"

Adam shook his head. "We're not totally sure. Heartbeat is good, but there's some problem on her blood test."

"Fetal-maternal hemmorage." Kim stated. "It means some of the babies blood cells mixed up with my blood cells... And if the counts are too high the baby could be in danger." Kim was tearing up. "I'm so STUPID. I thought I could keep doing this job and still protect us. Damn. I'm an idiot!" Kim was beginning to break down, leaning into Adam as she sobbed.

Hailey looked at Adam sympathetically, and left them alone in their room. Her phone buzzed and she glanced at a text from Jay.

_'Hey we just got here. Meet at nurses' station.'_

Hailey met up with Jay, Voight and Kevin.

"I heard they brought Burgess and Rojas in for injuries. Have you seen them?" Voight asked her.

"Yeah, I just checked on Burgess, she's waiting on some blood tests, Ruzek is with her. Vanessa was refusing treatment until everyone else was helped. And Teddy Stewart is responsive, I talked to him a bit."

Voight nodded. "Okay, let's see if we can talk to any alert victims."

The team split up, heading to different rooms. Hailey was walking down the hall with Jay, and she quickly pulled him into a supply closet.

Closing the door, Hailey wrapped her arms around Jay's torso, burying her face in his chest, breathing deeply. He squeezed her gently. "We're okay, Hail."

She turned her face up to him, sighing. "Apparently, Burgess is pregnant."

"Wait. What?"

"Yeah. They're worried the blast could've hurt the baby."

"Whoa, wait. How pregnant?"

"Like 5 months."

"WHAT?! Why didn't she tell anyone?!"

Hailey shrugged. "Maybe she was trying to figure out how, and time got away from her..."

"Whose the father?"

Hailey raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? You're a detective. You should be able to figure that out."

Jay's eyes got wide. "Ruzek?!"

Hailey nodded, then said to Jay, "You know how I'm always saying I don't want our relationship to effect our work... Well, I don't want our work to effect our relationship, either."

Jay's eyebrows went up. "I don't get it."

She took a deep breath. "I want a future with you, Jay. And after today it just feels like that's looking more and more unlikely. I mean, we could have been the ones hurt, or worse -"

He cut her off. "Hail, you can't think like that." Pulling her close he continued, "let's just soak in what we have now and not worry about what could happen." And with that, he kissed her passionately, gently pressing her against the door. They spent a few heated minutes in the closet freeing their minds, but then straightened their clothes and headed back to work.


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Thanks so much for all the positive feedback! If you follow the whole One Chicago Universe, I'm also working on a Chicago Fire story called "Smoldering" If you want to check it out!_

Kim lay in her hospital bed, thinking of all the things she had done wrong. How had she let things get this far? When she had first found out she was pregnant, she'd just kept pushing it off and avoiding the topic. If it weren't for Adam's commitment to stand by her, she probably wouldn't have canceled that appointment many months ago. When they were engaged he'd always struggled with commitment, but now things were different. He had driven her to appointments, made sure she was taking her vitamins, researched morning sickness cures and helped her read about baby supplies. He was even suggesting they move in together so he could help with the baby. But now... everything could be over. Would he hate her for not protecting their baby as much as she hated herself?

Adam fed his money into the vending machine in the hospital hallway for a soda. He should've convinced Kim a long time ago to quit working in the field. She should be behind a desk, answering the phones and researching leads for them. Why had he not pushed it more? He never imagined something like this would happen.

"Adam?"

He turned, seeing Voight and Kevin walking towards him.

"How's Kim?" Kevin asked anxiously.

Adam shrugged. "Not sure yet."

"What are they saying is wrong? Hailey said they had to do blood tests?" Voight questioned.

Adam sighed. He knew there was no running now. "Because of the blast there's a risk of a fetal-maternal hemmorage," he began, noting the confusion on Voight's face. "Um, it means blood cells were transferred between Kim and... the baby and it could be fatal for the baby... I should've told you Sarge, she didn't want to, I'm such an idiot, what have I done -" Adam started to get choked up, Kevin placed a strong hand on his shoulder.

Hank did well at hiding his shock. He slowly closed his eyes and sighed. He'd suspected they were back together, but he hadn't suspected this. "Yeah, that was stupid," he began, "but the important thing now is supporting Kim, whatever the outcome of these tests."

At that point, Voight's phone buzzed and the glanced at the screen. "I've got to take this. Go be with her, that's an order." He told Adam, disappearing down the hallway with the phone at his ear.

Adam took a deep breath, Kevin patted him on the back, and Ruzek returned to Kim's room.

Meanwhile, Hailey and Jay were again interviewing Teddy Stewart. "Your secretary gave us a list of everyone who had access to your social calendar in the past year, is there anyone on this list who stands out?"

Stewart glanced down the list, shaking his head. "All of my employees have been loyal, great people. We do extensive background checks."

"Anyone with criminal relatives? A hate for CPD? Anyone recently let go?"

"Wait." Stewart pointed at a name on the list. "Johnny Turner. He was a summer intern. He was let go because of his involvement in a white supremacy rally. He attended, there were rumors of him being a big part, but we fired him because we don't tolerate hate of any kind. He didn't take it very well."

"Did he ever mention anything against the Chicago Police Department?"

"No, i would've said he supported higher police presence in Chicago."

"We'll check it out." Jay thanked Stewart and they went to report to Voight.

Voight told Jay and Hailey to bring the intern in for questioning. Hailey climbed the stairs of the apartment building, still trying to rack her brain on why a white supremacist college kid would try to blow up the Chicago PD.

They knocked on 4B, announcing themselves as police, and a distinct rustling and quick footsteps was heard behind the door. Jay and Hailey drew their guns and Jay kicked open the door. It was eerily quiet in the apartment as they moved room to room. Suddenly, a young guy flew at Hailey, cracking her on the head with a frying pan, and she crumbled. Jay dove, taking out the offender's legs while he was off balance, and pinned him to the ground.

"Hail?! Can you hear me?"

She was still.

Jay grew more frantic. "Hailey? Hail? C'mon, Hailey." He keyed in his radio, calling for back up and emergency services.

A groan came from Hailey's body on the floor. She slowly stirred, pulling her body up to a sitting position with great effort, she placed her hand on her aching skull.

"Son of a bitch, that hurts," she moaned, wincing in pain.

Jay dug his knee a little harder into the offenders back, putting the hand cuffs on extra tight.

"You okay?" Jay asked her.

"Mhmm." She mumbled, but he wasn't convinced.

"Are you Johnny Turner?" He asked the kid under his knee.

"I want a lawyer."

Jay rolled his eyes. "You need a lawyer to tell you your own damn name?"

The young man spat at Jay's face, and Jay smirked. "Yeah man, you're definitely going to jail."

When patrol arrived he had them take the offender to Voight, who was going to have a 'talk' with Johnny Turner in the box. Jay hovered around as paramedics checked out Hailey, insisting she go to the hospital.

"I'm fine, really." She said, pushing them away. "I don't need to waste an ambulance."

"I'll take you then, no arguments." Jay demanded, and helped her to his truck so they could go back to the hospital.

"Man, I have been in this place too much today," Hailey told him as they walked in the door. She leaned on him for support. Her legs felt rubbery and her vision was swimming. Will was leaving his shift, but stopped when he saw Jay and agreed to look at Hailey before he left.

A while later, Will returned with Hailey's results. "Looks like a concussion. I'm going to recommend you rest, and maybe get someone to stay with you tonight. You don't want to fall asleep until it's been at least 12 hours," he told her.

She nodded. "You got it, Doc."

Will pulled Jay aside as they left. "She can take Tylenol or Advil for headaches, don't let her take anything that'll make her drowsy. Make she she doesn't over exert herself."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"C'mon, Jay. Of course you're going to stay with her."

"What makes you think that?" Jay responded, defensively.

"She's your partner. Plus, you owe her for taking care of you."

Fair enough. Jay realized Will was thinking strictly platonic thoughts about Jay and Hailey, so he didn't dive deeper into the subject. He just texted Voight an update and drove Hailey back to her place.

She sighed as she flipped on the lights. "Am I allowed to drink with a concussion?" She asked.

Jay shook his head. "Sorry, no. Doctor's orders." He grabbed himself a beer and sat down on the couch.

She groaned, rubbing her temples. "Well," she said with a mischievous glance toward him, "maybe there's something else that can take my mind off this shitty day?"

Jay shrugged. "Sorry, Doc said you can't over exert yourself, so no funny business," but a sly smile stretched across his face.

He watched as she stood in front of him, running her hands behind her back she manuevered them under her shirt for a few seconds, then pulled off a grey bra, tossing it to a speechless Jay. Hailey closed the distance between them, running her hands down his chest she gently climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. Her lips caressed his neck and she nibbled at his ear, pausing to whisper to him the indecent things she wanted to do. She felt him tense under her touch and his breath quickened, she could feel his excitement. He gently laid her down on the couch, pulling up the hem of her shirt to kiss above her waistband. He unbuttoned her pants, pulling them down her legs, kissing each new exposed spot as he went. She pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it across the room. As he slid his hands up under her shirt, he jumped at the sound of a loud knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Hailey said loudly.

"Atwater and Rojas." A male voice said.


	17. Chapter 17

"Just a minute," Hailey said, frantically pushing Jay off of her. He lept back, searching wildly for his shirt.

Hailey pulled on her pants, stuffing her bra in a kitchen drawer. She was small enough she could go without it and it wouldn't be noticeable.

Jay was still searching for his shirt, Hailey had thrown it, and he was unsure where. She waved him into her bedroom and went to open the door.

She pulled it open, to Kevin and Vanessa's smiling but concerned faces. "Hey, we just wanted to check on you. Rough day, huh?" Rojas said warmly.

"Yeah, comes with the job I guess. You guys really didn't have to come check on me, I'm fine."

"No way," Kevin said, pushing in the door and letting himself in, "We heard you can't go to sleep for a while, so we're here to keep you company." He flopped his large frame on the couch. "Besides, can we all discuss this whole Kim and Adam are having a BABY thing?"

Concern washed over Hailey's face. "Have you heard any news from them?"

Vanessa shook her head, sadly. "No, last we heard they heard the baby's heartbeat, but they're still trying to determine nuerological damage."

Hailey sighed, "I really hope they're okay," and her teammates nodded.

She heard the distinct sound of a toilet flush down the hall, and Jay emerged from the bathroom. He was wearing one of Hailey's largest Blackhawks t-shirts, but it still was a little small. When he saw Kevin and Vanessa he said, "Hey guys, did you come to keep Hailey awake, too?"

"Hey man, yeah."

Vanessa smiled wide. "Looks like a party! What do you have to drink?"

Hailey waved to the fridge. "Help yourself."

"What do you have to eat, more importantly." Kevin asked.

Hailey frowned. "Can't say there's too much."

"How about we order a pizza or something?" Jay suggested.

"Yes!" Vanessa exclaimed. "There's Bruno's two blocks east, you guys should go grab a pizza, I'll call ahead. Get some snacks too."

Vanessa put in an order, and Jay and Kevin grabbed their coats and left the apartment.

When they were gone, Vanessa turned to Hailey. "Anything you want to tell me?" She said suggestively.

"What?"

Vanessa walked over to a basket of magazines next to the couch, reaching in and pulling out Jay's shirt. "Do you normally keep your laundry with the magazines?"

Hailey laughed nervously. "Oh oops, must've fallen out of the hamper," she said weakly.

Vanessa's face broke out into a devilish grin. "Funny, your laundry looks like a men's large shirt identical to the one Jay Halstead wore to work today."

Hailey tried to keep her face as un-telling as possible. "Oh, yeah, he spilled something on it."

Vanessa shook head. "Sure." She said sarcastically, making a show of looking for a stain on the shirt. "C'mon, Hail. I'm not clueless. We used to live together, remember?" She sat down on the couch next to Hailey. "I get it if you want to keep your relationship quiet, but don't let it get so far that you end up in trouble."

They were both silent, thinking about Adam and Kim. Hailey sighed, and said to Vanessa, "I just don't want it to be everyone's business. You know it will be. If we're together, that puts a question mark on our motives for every operation. People are going to question our loyalties and our abilities to do our jobs fairly. It just sucks. We're already under so much scrutiny in Intelligence."

Vanessa was nodding. "Oh, I get it. You have to ask yourself how much you're willing to risk."

The door handle turned and the men entered, pizza and snacks in hand. They all say down to eat and talk, but Hailey was unusually quiet. Jay chalked it up to a headache, and gave her space while he socialized with Vanessa and Kevin.

At the hospital, Adam was pacing in Kim's room. Dr. Manning had said the results of the tests would be back soon. That was two hours ago. Finally, the door opened and Natalie entered. "Hey guys, sorry. We are swamped with the bombing victims."

Kim nodded solemnly. "We understand," she said, as Adam took her hand.

Natalie smiled at them. "You guys can relax. The tests results came back higher than normal, but not at a dangerous level. So we can be cautiously optimistic."

Adam and Kim both breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's not it." Natalie sat on the edge of the bed. "Kim, I know how much your job means to you, but you can't be putting yourself at risk anymore. This could've been much worse. For you and your baby. I'm recommending desk duty for the rest of your pregnancy."

Kim nodded. "I know. I knew this day would come. But I've got to put my family first right now," she said, glancing at Adam. Hopefully her job would still be there.

Meanwhile, in a warehouse in an undisclosed location, a bloodied Johnny Turner sat before Hank Voight, duct taped to a chair.

"Thats the story you're going with?! I ask why you want to harm the CPD and you say, 'I just felt like it,' that's it?!"

Turner spat at Voight. In return, Hank smacked him across the face again.

"Alright, if you're not gonna give it up, maybe your family knows something. Your mom. Your sister, Megan. Your kid brother, Spencer. Life could get real hard for them..."

"What? They're innocent, you wouldn't dare." Turner spat.

The 18 cops you injured, they were innocent!" Voight shouted at him.

"You think the CPD is INNOCENT?! How about when my dad caught a stray bullet from a gunfight and die in my arms!"

There it was. Voight knew a bit of the story, but waited for Turner to continue. "The CPD says they serve and protect Chicago. They did nothing to protect my family. NOTHING. They deserved what I gave them." he spat at Voight.

Hank sighed. "Johnny, I read the file. Your dad was allowing the West Side Hustlers to use his grocery store as a front for selling guns."

"Because they forced him too!"

"He should've come to us for help! I'm sorry about what happened to your dad, but those cops did not deserve this. They didn't start that gun fight. One of those gangsters could've shot your dad, I don't see you bombing the Hustlers. This is how it going down. Your gonna do time. All the evidence points to you. You confess now, well make sure your family stays out of it and above water."

The boy was silent. Tears started to pour out of his eyes as he sobbed, nodding his head in agreement. Voight cut his restraints and helped him back to his car. They headed to the station for an official statement. Turner would go to jail for a long time for 18 counts of attempted murder, but as Hank looked at the distraught young man in his rearview mirror, it wasn't as gratifying as he expected.

Back at Hailey's apartment, the gang had finally resorted to Monopoly to pass the time.

"Monopoly at 2am is way harder," Jay groaned as he paid Hailey another $625 for her hotel.

She laughed, "you're just not a savy business man."

Vanessa had passed out on the couch a while ago, and Kevin was yawning. Hailey nudged him. "Hey, take the spare bedroom. You need to sleep."

He nodded. "I might just have to do that." And he picked up his large frame and disappeared down the hallway.

Jay smiled, taking Hailey's hand. "Alone at last."

She raise her eyebrows, motioning to a sleeping Vanessa.

"Well maybe we should go somewhere more private?" He suggested. "Continue our earlier... Discussion?"

She smiled, biting a her bottom lip, making his heart skip a beat. Damn, did he love this woman, Jay thought as he followed her to her room.

"Hey, set an alarm so I can go back out to the couch before everyone wakes up," Jay told her, and Hailey did so on her bedside clock. She helped him remove his shirt, saying, "I believe this is mine."

He laughed, kissing her sweetly. He lifted her shirt off effortlessly, elated to discover she still had nothing underneath. They quickly shed the rest of their clothes, snuggling under the covers, he kissed her again. Placing his forehead against hers and staring into her eyes he said hoarsely, "I love you, beautiful." She smiled, pulling him as close to her as possible, and she showed him just how much she returned the sentiment.

"Um, guys? We have to be a work in 20, and I'm pretty sure this excuse is not gonna fly with Voight."

Hailey's eyes flew open. Vanessa and Kevin were standing over her bed, both smirking. She glanced beside her, where a sleeping Jay Halstead still lay. A sleeping, NAKED Jay Halstead.

Hailey sat up, eyes wide, clutching the covers to her chest.

"Um, I can explain." She insisted.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Hey y'all! Sorry for not posting for a while, sometimes real life gets in the way, and I didn't want to get distracted and have the writing suffer! Hope you enjoy this next chapter and finale!

Vanessa crossed her arms, still smirking, waiting for Hailey's excuse. "Let me guess, he spilled something on his entire outfit?"

"Um it's not what it looks like..." She started, glancing around at the expectant faces. Who was she kidding. There was no way out of this. She sighed. "Okay, it's exactly what it looks like."

Jay was biting the inside of his lip. Hailey was definitely going to be upset about this. "I thought you set an alarm?"

She looked over at the clock, checking the alarm she groaned, "I set it for 7 PM."

"Well, you did have a concussion so, you weren't thinking straight," Vanessa offered.

Kevin still hadn't said a word, his shock was pretty evident.

"So, you guys think you could give us some privacy to get dressed?" Jay suggested.

"Right!" Rojas laughed. "I'm gonna go anyway, swing by my place for some clothes. See ya guys at work." And she left, Kevin following her out, wordlessly.

"Shit." Hailey swore, flopping back on the bed.

"Hail, it's okay."

"No, no it's not. It's different for a female detective... Jay, people are going to talk, say I'm sleeping around my unit. If I get promoted it'll be because I'm sleeping with someone, not because of my merit," she was getting upset, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Hailey, forget them. You know who you are," he said, kissing her bare shoulder. "Our unit knows you deserve any promotion you're given. All that matters is that we know what kind of cop you are."

She nodded, biting the inside of her lip.

"We need to tell Voight," he told her, and when she began to protest he said, "we've got to get out in front of this."

As soon as they got to the precinct, Hailey headed to Voight's office and Jay followed. Hailey stopped him, "Maybe I'd better do this alone," she suggested. Jay didn't have the best track record with dating while in the Intelligence unit. His last relationship was with a drug dealer, the one before that was practically Voight's daughter.

He nodded, watching her walk into the office and close the door.

Hank glanced up at her from his desk, shuffling pages. " What can I do for you?" He asked, looking back to his papers.

"Sarge, I gotta be honest with you, especially with everything going on with Adam and Kim... I never meant for this to happen but things have gotten serious and I feel like I need to tell you..." she trailed off, and he finally looked up from his paperwork.

"Is this about you and Halstead being together?"

Her mouth dropped a bit in surprise, "How did you know?"

"I'm not stupid. I see things, Hailey. Are you pregnant too?"

"What?! NO."

He shrugged. "Then no problems here."

Shocked, she turned to go, and he called after her, "but let me know if that status changes. The more I know, the better I can protect you."

She returned to her desk, a confused look on her face. Jay hustled over, asking breathlessly, "Do I need to look for another job?"

She shook her head. "No. He was super chill about it. It was weird." She frowned at him, "he asked if I was pregnant."

Jay's eyes got wide, "And you said..."

"NO. Are you serious?!"

"Sorry, I mean, just checking." He wandered back to his own desk, his thoughts drifting to Hailey being pregnant, with his baby. He decided he would not have minded that at all.

Later in the day, Adam showed up, with news that Kim was doing well. She'd be behind a desk for the foreseeable future, until the baby was born. After the scare with the bombing, she was much more open to a less intense position at the CPD.

Hailey and Jay went back to her apartment that night, sitting on the couch watching tv, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Jay?" She took a deep breath, turning to him, her face serious.

Concerned, he sat up, taking her hand. "What's wrong?"

"You deserve someone better than me."

He scoffed, "where is this coming from?"

"I don't know... thinking about Adam and Kim... I love my job. I'm a good cop. I... I don't know if I want to give that up for a kid."

"Hailey. Stop. You don't have to plan the future now."

"But you want kids."

"Maybe someday. Definitely not right now!"

"But someday. What if I don't?"

"Do you know for sure?"

"No."

"Then stop worrying about it." He pulled her into his lap, kissing her cheek. "Hails, I'm in love with you. All of you. The goods and the bads. Why is that so hard to understand."

Tears started to fall down her face as she admitted, "everyone I've ever loved leaves me. Or worse is taken from me. I can't lose you too."

He chuckled, "I'm not going anywhere. Seriously, you're going to have to tie me up and ship me to another country if you want to get rid of me."

"I hope so." She responded, burying her face into his chest.

"I'm gonna prove it," he insisted, standing up with her in his arms, he carried her to the bedroom.

FIVE YEARS LATER

Jay stood at the front of the church, Will at his side, watching as Hailey walked down the aisle holding on to Voight's arm. She was the picture of beauty in her white gown, her golden locks falling freely down her back. When she reached him she smiled wide, handing her bouquet to Kim as she took both of Jay's hands. Reciting their vows, their eyes never left each other.

"I promise to love you, Hailey. Every part of you. And I'm going to prove to you every day that you deserve all my love. You're my partner, my best friend, and now my wife. I can't imagine a life without you in it. Thank you for taking a chance on me. For trusting me. For always having my back. Wherever we're headed, were in it together. I go where you go," he said, beaming at her.

They kissed passionately, their friends cheered. Adam and Kim's daughter was unimpressed, the four year old dumped her basket of rose petals at their feet, wandering off to sit on Voight's lap. The small group surrounded them, offering congratulations and giving hugs. They headed to Molly's, where Hermann had strung a 'just married' sign above the bar. Talking, laughing and drinking with their friends, Hailey smiled across the room to where her husband sat. Catching her eye he winked, pointing at the water bottle in his hand, then at her. She rolled her eyes, running a hand down her still flat belly, knowing she was following him blind into marriage, and soon parenthood. Jay had been ecstatic when they'd found out the week before, but she hadn't wanted to take the attention off their wedding, so they'd kept the secret. For now.

"Hey, we gotta get going, get the little ones to bed," Kim said behind her, holding baby Alvin in one arm while Adam carried the defiant flower girl, Nina. Kim gave Hailey a one armed hug, "Congratulations, we're so happy for you guys," she said, and Adam nodded.

Late in the evening they finally returned to her apartment, _their_ apartment. He helped unbutton the tiny row of buttons at the back of her dress, slipping it down over her hips he kissed her bare shoulders. Turning to face him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, gazing longingly into his eyes. "I love you," she whispered, touching her nose to his.

His hands rested on her butt, and he pulled them up over her hips, running them across her belly, he leaned down to kiss her there. "I love you too, Hail," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion as he picked her up, carrying her to the bedroom.

Along the way she joked, "you know, soon I'm going to be as big as a house, this won't be so easy."

He smiled, placing her gently on the bed, he ran his fingers over her skin, kissing the tender spots. "You'll still be just as beautiful," he remarked, pulling his wife close to him, relishing the perfection of the day and that moment, knowing that with her by his side, his life would always be good.

The End :)

*** A/N: Thanks for all the support on this story! If you like romance/angst reading, check out my new story:

s/13487531/1/The-Mail-Order-Bride

It's a post American civil war Western, if you don't know the story of the tv show "The Rifleman" it's still easy to understand! And full of action and tension!


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